


AfterMatch

by rocketscientist07



Category: Miss Match
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-13 00:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7130597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rocketscientist07/pseuds/rocketscientist07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>12 years after the events of the show Adam and Lauren are happily married, but what the future holds for them now Kate Fox is back to Los Angeles? *AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'VE LOST THE REMAINING CHAPTERS OF THIS STORY BUT I'M REWRITING EVERYTHING AND POSTING SOON.*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I post online and English is my second language, please forgive me for any mistakes. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Miss Match.

_11 years, 11 months and 17 days._  
Adam Logan thought while looking at the envelope in his hands. His eyes read carefully every sentence at least twice. That woman ruined his life and now she was trying to contact him again after all this time.  
He always wondered if it was really her fault. She should’ve been more cautious in her job, she was dealing with people’s lives. Or maybe he should blame himself, he used to trust people too easily and he thought his money could buy everything.  
His hands started to shake as he pressed harder that small paper. He closed his eyes and moments later he felt a pair of arms involving his chest from behind.  
"Morning, handsome."  
He turned around and gently kissed his wife.  
"That was a long shower, you know?" He joked.  
Without her noticing, he slipped the card to inside his pocket. Lauren wouldn't be pleased to find out _**she**_ had sent him that invitation and besides, they were just making up from last night's argument, there was no reason to start another fight.  
She sat next to him on bed.  
"Are you still mad at me?" Lauren asked.  
"Of course not!" Adam said. "You were right anyways, we nearly lost that deal because of my big mouth.”  
She kissed him in the lips again.  
“I love you, even if you’re stubborn and never listen to my advices.”  
“I love you too, gorgeous.” He smiled.  
“I don’t know...” Lauren said. “You have that look on your face.”  
“I swear,” Adam lied, “I’m only tired of... you know... last night?”  
"Don't try to fool me, Adam Logan," She grabbed the cup of coffee he left for her at the bedside table. "I'll find out. I always do." She winked.  
Adam looked at her while she took a sip of her coffee and he couldn't help thinking about how things had changed. She became his best friend, his partner, his soulmate. She still drove him crazy, all the time, but he loved her. He learned to accept her flaws and she learned to accept his.  
"Where are the kids?" Lauren asked.  
"Uh... David and Serenity are playing outside and Luke is in his bedroom reading."  
"He has been spending too much time in that bedroom."  
"It's normal of his age, Lauren."  
Lucas was their eldest son. He was 11 years old and resembled his father. The first time Adam saw him he was 2 years old and a little bit over 2ft tall, now he had reached his mother's shoulder. Time had passed really quickly.  
"You should talk to him, maybe he'll open up to you," Lauren said.  
"I'll try to talk to him later, ok?" He kissed his wife's forehead. "But you don't need to worry, he's fine."  
Adam left the bedroom and went downstairs to see whatever his other kids were up to.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren knew something was wrong. For days she had been watching Adam, every morning for the last 2 weeks he'd stare that envelope. At first she thought it was another article but she couldn't find anything on Google or recent newspapers. She kept trying to find where he was keeping it, but he was hiding the damn piece of paper like a treasure. What he didn't know is that she finally stole it from his pocket as they kissed.  
She was ready to open that mysterious envelope but there was something else she needed to solve first. She knocked her eldest son's bedroom door.  
"Luke? It's a beautiful day, sweetie. Let's go outside."  
The boy took his eyes off the comic book he was reading.  
"Ok, but I'm gonna finish this first."  
"You can finish later, your siblings are waiting for you. David is testing his new creation."  
"Later, mom. I'm not in the mood."  
He hadn't been "in the mood" for anything lately, that was worrying her deeply.  
"Mom?" He asked. "Can I use your laptop?"  
"What happened to your computer?"  
"Err... David is doing a clean up for me and it'll take a few hours," he said. "I need to make a research for school."  
"Tonight. Now you're gonna get out of this bedroom and go outside, ok?"  
The boy agreed.  
Lauren went back to her bedroom and locked the door. She sat down and opened the envelope. Her eyes couldn't believe what she was reading, Kate Fox's was having a new book released and she was throwing a cocktail. For some reason, she thought that inviting Adam, alone, was a good idea.  
She checked the date, the event was happening that evening, she had until noon to confirm her presence. A woman answered her phone call and she explained her husband was out of town so she'd be going in his place.  
"I hope it's not a problem?" She asked.  
"No way, Mrs. Logan. Miss Fox will be waiting for you."  
_I'm pretty sure she won't._ Lauren thought.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Slowly, Serenity, you're gonna break it," David shouted.  
"If I break it you can build another one, smartass."  
"Dad!"  
Adam watched while his other two kids played outside. David had attached a camera in a remote control airplane. That kid was a genius, he was a tech geek at only 9 years old. He was also very good at science and math.  
"What's up, captain? Problems with your pilot?" Adam asked as the boy approached him.  
"More like my ship was taken by a troll." He sat next to his father, disappointed.  
Adam smiled. David looked a lot like his mother and so did Serenity. Anyone that looked them would say they looked like twins but they had a 14 months age gap, Serenity was 8.  
The girl's name was the reason for their second "almost divorce". Lauren had complications during childbirth and spent a few days in the hospital, when she got home she found out her little "Olivia Marie" had been named "Serenity Zoe". She only forgave Adam weeks later because that fussy, loud and energetic baby would only stop crying when daddy called her "Serenity".     
"Stop being a cry-baby, David. I know what I'm doing!" Serenity said while the plane was only a few inches away from falling in the swimming pool.  
"That's enough, give it back to me," David whined.  
Lauren approached Adam holding her cell phone.  
"Baby, change of plans for tonight. The girls invited me for a drink and I couldn't say no, remember one of them is moving to Florida? So, she's going next week."  
"Uhh... What time can I expect my girl to come home?" Adam asked, placing his arm around her waist.  
"I won't take too long, I promise."  
She pressed her lips against his.  
"Are you going out tonight, mommy?" Serenity asked. Her green eyes were glowing in hope.  
"Yes, sweetie," Lauren said. "Will you miss me?"  
The girl nodded yes and winked to her father. Lauren knew what that meant, whenever she went out Adam would let the kids order pizza, eat lots of ice cream and play video games until late. The kids thought it was a secret they shared with Adam and she didn't want to ruin it, so she pretended she didn't know. She also winked to her husband as the little girl joined her brothers.  
"Hey, it's my turn again,” she said.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren had a devilish grin on her face while driving to the cocktail, it was the first time she'd face Kate Fox after 12 years. Everytime she saw her on talk shows, interviews and Q &A sessions she always wanted to tell the public their "little story", but then Kate would be the victim, she was always the victim.  
She parked her car and started walking. She remembered the anger management counselling sessions she had to please Adam right after they got back together, as she passed through the door she thought:  
_Don't fight, don't yell, don't go crazy. Keep it classy, Lauren, you can do it._  
Lauren wanted to get it done and go home as soon as possible but Kate was nowhere to be found. She looked around a little bit more and decided to ask for information, she asked three different people and none of them had seen her yet so she went to the bartender:  
"Hey, bartender."  
"Hello, how can I help you tonight?"  
"Well, first I really need a drink," Lauren said.  
"Describe yourself. 3 words and I'll make you a drink that fits."  
"Wife. Mother. CEO."  
"Oh, sounds like you need a very good one."  
"Definitely." Lauren laughed as she read the tag on that woman's shirt: _"Victoria - Bartender"_.  
"So, _Victoria_ , have you seen Ms. Fox?” She asked. "I really wanted to greet her."  
"She was here a few minutes ago, she's probably getting ready for her speech," Victoria said. "Here's your drink."  
Lauren took a sip of the orangish drink Victoria prepared.  
"Awesome!" She exclaimed. "I'm gonna hire you for my next party."  
"Oh good, but know what I could use right now? A steady job."  
"Really? I'm looking for an assistant. Simple thing, only to help me at my office, are you interested?"  
"Sure. Where is it?"  
"Mother Earth Footwear."  
Victoria froze.  
"Uhh Errr... Give me your number and I call you to schedule an interview," she said nervously. "What's your name again?"  
"Lauren. Logan."  
"Excuse me Lauren, I need to serve that client over there. I call you, ok?"  
"Ok."  
Lauren knew the look Victoria gave her after she said "Mother Earth Footwear”, it made her feel bad. It happened all the time since Adam was declared guilty. When things got a little better, a newspaper released an article _"Mother Earth: 10 years after the scandal"_ and people started to remember the whole thing again. She waved good-bye to Victoria and decided to look for Kate Fox again.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victoria walked away from Lauren and discretly typed on her phone:  
_Kate, meet me @ the bar. ASAP. Be careful._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"You wanna talk to me?"  
"Yes, can we do it privately?"  
Kate told her to wait in a small room. Lauren sat on the couch and started to think. Seeing Kate reminded her of Michael. They hadn't heard from him in months, he was somewhere in Asia after his second wife dumped him. He'd send postcards sometimes but neither she or Adam would bother reading it.  
She grabbed a copy of the book on the table in front of her. Those relationship advices were too stupid, she wondered if people were really that desperate. _Such a waste of paper!_ She thought. Kate also mentioned her husband, kids and the countries they had lived in the last 10 years. Lauren had no idea she had gotten married. Before she could read anything else the door opened and Kate came in.  
"Done," she said. "We can talk now."  
"Kate, I'm going straight to the point," Lauren started. "What do you want with my husband?"  
Kate took a deep breath. It wasn’t easy for her as well.  
"I wanted to talk to him, ask him how he's doing."  
"He's doing great. Thanks for your concern."  
"I'm sorry for what happened... I..."  
"I'm only going to say it once, ok?" Lauren interrupted her. "I don't want you trying to contact him, not now, almost 12 years later. You weren't there when he needed, you weren't there when we was declared guilty for insider trading, all because of that woman you set him up with."  
"I didn't want to get involved," Kate said. "If I knew that she had planned to drug him in order to obtain confidential information I'd never have set them up."  
"It's all about you, always," Lauren laughed. "You destroyed his life, his career. He's still broken inside, I know that. Every year he still mourns that date."  
"Lauren, I..."  
"Stop, Kate. No excuses, ok?" Lauren grabbed her purse and walked to the door. "Oh, and thank you for your matchmaking services. At least the trouble that you caused brought us together again."  
She entered her car and she stayed there for a few minutes. She felt her face burning and her hands shaking. There was a lot more she'd like to tell Kate Fox, like how scared she was when Adam attempted to take his own life or about the look on his face everytime somebody brings up the scandal again. She calmed down and came to the conclusion she should just go home now and hug him as tight as she could.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"I'm home!" Lauren announced as she got inside.  
"But it's still 9 P.M.!" She heard Serenity complaining.  
She went to the living room where the kids were playing video games with Adam. She gave him a kiss.  
"There's pizza in the kitchen," Adam said.  
"I'm not hungry." She sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.  
Lauren noticed he was too quiet and had a serious look on his face.  
"You're so quiet," she said. "Did you lose to them?"  
There was no age difference when Adam played video games with the kids, they all behaved the same way. Lauren wasn’t very good playing but she liked to watch.  
"We need to talk, can we go upstairs?" Adam asked.  
Lauren followed him to their bedroom and he closed the door.  
"You lied to me," he said. "You went to that damn cocktail, didn't you?"  
"Adam, I needed to ask her what the hell she wanted."  
"It doesn't matter what she wanted. I wasn't going and I didn't want you to go!" Adam shouted.  
"I'm sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing for us." Lauren tried to apologize.  
"For us? If you were really thinking about us you should have asked me."  
He sat on the bed and she tried to hug him.  
"No, Lauren. Not now, ok? Leave me alone, please."  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
_36 hours._  
Adam was 36 hours without saying a word to her. She tried to apologize in every way she could but nothing.  
He refused to go with her to the office and she understood. He barely could have any active functions at the company even after all this time, the other employees would make mean comments about him and their kept losing deals when he was the one trying to negotiate.  
There was a mess going on in front of the building, apparently somebody else was moving in. In the middle of all that confusion and noise, Lauren was waiting for the elevator, one of her co-workers and Adam's best friends joined her.  
"Morning, boss," the blonde-haired man said.  
"Morning, Ethan."  
"Where's Adam?"    
"He didn't feel like coming today. You know, same old problems."  
"Oh, it's that time of the year."  
Ethan was very supportive when everything happened. When Adam was out of the federal prison, he stayed at Ethan’s place in San Francisco for 3 months.  
"Exactly," Lauren said. "So, do you know who's moving to the building?"  
They entered the elevator.  
"Oh, it's just a law firm," he said. "Fox  & Associates, I guess." 


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you ready to go?” Lauren asked while holding her husband’s hand. She could tell he was a little bit nervous.  
  
After the Foxes’ lawfirm moved to the same building as their company, Adam decided it was time for them to sit down and talk. She said she would always support him, whatever was his decision about it. For her surprise, he smiled and said:  
“You know what? Screw them. I decided to leave the past behind, I want my career back, I want to be respected again. I’m done hiding behind my insecurities.”  
“And I’m going to be by your side, we’ll do this together,” Lauren said.  
In the next days she prepared everything for Adam’s come back. She redecorated their office, she bought him new clothes and the most important, she went to talk to Jerry Fox.  
She didn’t feel confortable going that office again, not only for the possibility of running into Kate, but because everytime a woman entered that place Jerry Fox and Nick Payne would start a competition to see who would _get_ the client, but not in a professional way.  
He was very polite and assured her that Kate was no longer part of their team and wouldn’t cause anymore problems for Adam. He also said something else that Lauren later realized he could be hitting on her.  
  
“So, did you like it?” Lauren asked when she opened the office’s door.  
“I loved it.”  
Adam kissed her. The only reason why that company still existed was Lauren. She had been in charge of their business for 9 years now and saved them from bankruptcy. His parents weren’t happy in the beginning, they never liked Lauren and when they got married they'd tell him all the time that _“she wasn’t suitable for him or their family”_ , but at that point she was considered more trustworthy than their criminal son.  
“Hey man, it’s good to see you here,” Ethan said.  
“Oh yeah, get ready, easy times are over,” Adam joked. “I’ll be your boss now and I’ll watch every step you take.”  
Lauren smiled. She was glad to see her husband being excited about their company again.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kate wasn’t happy when Victoria called her asking for help, she couldn’t decide what to wear for her job interview with Lauren. At first she thought her friend was joking but then she found out she was really determined.  
“You’re going crazy, Victoria,” she said. “I know you’re in trouble with your bills, but I can borrow you some money.”  
“Kate, no. I need to get a job.”  
“But it doesn’t have to be _there_ , not at that company! Lauren is a psycho, she even went after my father again.”  
“It’s my only option right now.”  
  The friendship between Kate and Victoria wasn’t the same from 12 years ago. When Kate started to become famous she had no time for her best friend, their conversations were short and most of the time, limited to the phone. In 2007, during a trip to New York for an interview, she met a man named Josh. He was funny, handsome and above all, mysterious. Using her matchmaker skills, she knew exactly what to do to make his walls come down. He became the perfect boyfriend and less than 6 months later they were engaged and living together.  
From day one, Victoria hated Josh. In the beginning, Kate thought she could be jealous but her feelings wouldn’t change. In Victoria’s mind her boyfriend was a psychopath who was only with her for money, she insisted there was something wrong about him. Kate assured her Josh was a good man and later she asked the best friend to be her bridesmaid, which Victoria declined.  
After the wedding Josh suggested Kate should write a book with relationship advices. The book was a hit and they spent almost 8 years traveling around the world and living in different countries where she could promote her book and her matchmaker job. They had two kids, Hazel and Bradley.  
When they moved back to Los Angeles Kate felt she needed to restore her friendship with Victoria, everything was fine, until Josh was casually mentioned during their conversations.  
 “So, where’s Mr. Perfect?” Victoria asked, sarcastically.  
“In San Francisco, visiting his mother,” Kate said, giving Victoria a look of disapproval. “He was supposed to come back last weekend but he’ll be attending a reunion with his friends from Berkeley on Saturday.”  
“And why didn’t he take you with him?”  
“Look, Victoria, I know you don’t like him but Josh had a tough life,” Kate explained. “His father died and his mother raised him alone, he’s embarrassed of the place he used to live and doesn’t feel confortable taking me there. I don’t mind, ok?”  
Victoria kept her mouth shut, she knew there was something else behind Josh’s story. She wanted to protect Kate but how was she supposed to find out what secrets Josh could be hiding?  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam’s anxiety quickly passed after he was welcomed by the other employees. There was no laughs or whispers when he passed through them and nobody taunted him during the conference they had in the morning. Maybe everything was only in his mind, he was being a coward all this time.  
Deep down he knew his wife probably also had her part in this, she probably threatened one by one with demission if they treated him badly again.  
He was sitting on his desk with a smile of satisfaction on his face, making plans, but then he looked at Lauren, something was clearly bothering her. She stared to the laptop’s screen with a terrified look.  
“What? Don’t tell me there’s already a new article?” He joked.  
She was in silence for a moment while her eyes examined the screen again.  
“Adam, who used my laptop in the last few days?”  
“I did,” he replied. “B-but I was only reading the files you showed me, whatever you found there isn’t mine.”  
“Did one of the kids used it?”  
“Uh, I don’t remember...” he thought. “Oh, Luke. He used it a few days ago.”  
Lauren fell silent again. Everything was making sense now, the long time he was spending alone, his quietness, the aggressive behavior around his parents and siblings. When he asked to use her laptop he thought the parental control wouldn’t register the websites he visited but it was all there, in the recent activity list of the software:  
_“Entries removed from browsing history:_  
_\- Google Search - “how to cover a bruise”_  
_\- Google Search - “how to stop a nosebleed”_  
_\- Google Search - “bullying help”_  
  
“Take a look at this,” she said as Adam approached to see what was wrong.  
A couple of weeks before, when she picked him up at soccer practice, his nose was bleeding actively.  
“I got hit during the game,” he said.  
Later she noticed he had bruises on his back, arms and legs while he was getting dressed.  
“I fell,” was his excuse this time.  
Deep down she felt something was wrong with him but she always tried to convince helself that he was only growing up and needed some privacy. She was even told she was being overprotective.  
Adam involved her, trying to calm her down.  
“Hey, I’m gonna go to that school right now and...”  
“Wait,” she suggested. “We should talk to him first.”  
They were interrupted when Ethan opened the door.  
“Lauren, can you come here for a moment?” He asked.  
“Sure.”  
“Am I interrupting you guys?”  
“No, it’s ok,” she said, her voice was still weak and distant. “Adam, if that girl I’m gonna interview shows up, please tell her to wait. I’ll be back in a minute.”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam’s mind was so absent that he could not hear the knocks on the door. Not only he found out his son was being physically attacked by bullies but he also heard the conversation between Ethan and Lauren minutes before. His mother was on the phone to tell Lauren that her decision of bringing him back officially to the company was a harm to their reputation.  
“Hi, may I come in?”  
He heard a voice saying. When he turned to the door he noticed a familiar face waiting for his answer.  
“What are you doing here?” He questioned.  
“I have an interview,” Victoria answered. “With Lauren.”  
“I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Kate.”  
“Oh no, she didn’t even wanted me to be here.”  
Adam thought for a while, in the past he had two or three dates with Victoria to please Kate, if it ever came to Lauren’s knowledge he’d be in trouble. She was still extremely jealous of him and countless times she fired female employees because she claimed they were being “too friendly” around him.  
“Listen, Victoria. I don’t like getting in the middle of my wife’s choices but if you put me in any uncomfortable situations I won’t hesitate telling her how I’ve met you before. Got it?”  
“Don’t worry, I’m only here because I really need the job.”  
“Good,” Adam said. “Would you please sit down?”  
Victoria sat on the couch in front of Adam’s desk, she coudn’t help thinking how much he had changed, not his looks, but his personality. He was no longer that immature, arrogant man she met years ago.  
“Oh hey you,” Lauren said as she entered the office. “I’m sorry, I was solving a problem.”  
“No worries, I just got here.” Victoria smiled.  
Lauren glanced at Adam, wondering how much he and Victoria had talked before she got there, but he seemed to be focused on his computer screen.  
“Everything’s ok?” He asked her.  
“Yes, just a... I tell you later.”  
“So, I’m giving you some privacy with your candidate.”  
Adam left the office and Lauren sat down on her desk, inviting Victoria to join her.  
“So Victoria, can we get started?” Lauren asked.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When Lauren got home later than expected, she found her husband at the kitchen cooking the dinner. He left the office earlier to pick up the kids at school.  
“How’s my favorite chef?” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips.  
“Good, how’s my favorite wife?”  
“Tired, got stuck in traffic.”  
Adam got her a glass of wine, she thanked him. Then he sat next to her on the table, looking upset.  
“I tried to talk to him,” he said.  
“And?”  
“He yelled, shut the door on my face and told me he hates me.”  
Lauren looked down and got silent for a moment.  
“He’s going to tell me what’s going on, whether he want it or not.”  
“Oh, and apparently his two minions are helping him to keep the secret,” Adam said, referring to David and Serenity. “Can’t we just go back to the time when they fought over cartoons and threw Lego blocks on each other?”  
Lauren smiled.  
“That was way easier.”  
After dinner she went to Lucas’ room, she knocked on the door and moments later she heard a _“leave me alone”_ in the middle of rock music and a shooting game the boy played on his computer. She opened the door anyways.  
“We need to talk.”  
She sat on his bed, waiting. Lucas kept ignoring her.  
“Now, or I’m gonna change the WiFi password.”  
With a grouchy face, the boy dropped the joystick, turned off the music and sat next to her.  
“What’s going on, Luke?” Lauren inquired. “I saw the stuff you’ve been reading on my computer.”  
“Damn it, are you a spy or what?”  
“Don’t change the subject. When did it started?”  
“Like 6 months ago but in the last few weeks it started to get physical.” Lucas lowered his head and told his mother. “You know, last month they found those articles, they printed them and spread to the whole school. Now everybody makes fun of me, they say my father is a criminal.”  
“Luke, sweetie... this is not true, ok?” Lauren tried to comfort the boy. “Your father was innocent.”  
“Of course it’s true, it’s all over the internet!” He shouted, tears were rolling from his blue eyes. “He also cheated on you, the articles mentioned another woman. He helped her to become a millionaire with the confidential information he shared.”  
Lauren embraced the kid, he rested his head against her chest and she could feel he was sobbing.  
“I’m gonna tell you everything, ok?” She said after kissing his forehead.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Grounded, both of you,” Adam asserted.  
“But dad, Luke asked us to keep a secret,” argued Serenity. “You have a brother too, you’ve done the same.”  
“No, I wouldn’t. Your brother could be in serious danger, it’s not like lying about your grades.”  
The little girl crossed her arms and observed him, annoyed.  
“I’m sorry, dad,” lamented David. “I thought I was helping him, he said he could solve it himself.”  
“I want you two to promise that you’ll never hide something like that from us again, do you understand?”  
Both of the kids nodded in agreement.  
“Dad, is it true you were in prison?” David asked.  
“Of course not, David,” Serenity shouted. “Those idiots invented the articles.”  
“Yes, it’s true,” Adam said. “I think you guys are old enough now to know the truth.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“That’s it, Luke,” Lauren finished.  
“Why were two getting divorced?” The boy still had a lot of questions.  
“Every couple goes through some difficult periods, we had ours at that time.”  
“Was dad in prison when I was born?”  
“Yes. Getting a low-income job was the first thing he did when he was out, then with his first paycheck he bought you a gift.”  
Lauren got up and picked a stuffed giraffe on his closet.  
“Do you remember it?” She asked. “You wouldn’t let it go for a minute.”  
The boy held the plushie and smiled.  
She stroke his dark brown hair.  
“Why didn’t you tell me before, son?” Lauren questioned.  
“I didn’t want to disappoint you and dad.”  
“Disappoint? We’re all so proud of you! You do know David only built that plane because he’s trying to film you playing from another angle, right? You’re his idol.”  
The boy agreed and they both laughed.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam was sitting on the couch watching TV when Lauren appeared behind him.  
“How was it?” He asked.  
“He’s gonna be ok. How was with _double trouble_?”  
“Grounded, no video games, tablets or TV for a month.”  
“I know you, Adam,” she teased. “Tomorrow they’ll look at you with their puppy dog eyes and everything will be fine.”  
“Of course you know, they inherited that look from you!”  
Lauren laughed, she knew it was true.  
“Did you told Luke **_everything_**?” Adam showed some concern.  
“Oh, no,” Lauren assured. “Don’t worry about _**that**_.”  
“Dad?” Lucas came to the living room.  
“Hey buddy, come here,” Adam called.  
The boy sat in the middle of his parents.  
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he started. “I’m sorry, I don’t hate you ok? You’re the best dad in the world.”  
Adam hugged his son.  
“That’s ok. And Luke, tomorrow I’m going to your school and we’re going to get those guys, they’ll never bother you again.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Next evening when Lauren was leaving the office to go home, Adam was waiting for her with the kids.  
“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” She asked.  
“I talked to the school’s principal and Luke’s coach,” Adam announced. “They said the boys will be properly punished if they bother him again.”  
“That’s great.”  
“So, I thought we should pick you up at work and go somewhere to celebrate everything will be alright again.”  
Lauren squeezed him tight.  
“Uhh, excuse me?” They heard. It was Kate Fox.  
“What do you want now?” Lauren questioned.  
“I wanna solve things between us, why don’t you guys come to my house for dinner this weekend?” Kate invited.  
“No,” Adam quickly answered.  
“We should go, Adam. If she wants to talk to you it’ll be in my presence.”


	3. Chapter 3

“I can’t find _anything_ to wear!” Complained Lauren, while throwing one more dress to the pile on the bed.  
After disappearing for a couple of minutes inside the closet she came back, wearing another dress.  
“You look great on this one,” said Adam, trying to end that struggle. “It’s my favorite.”  
Lauren stopped in front of the mirror and examined herself.  
“No, it makes me look fat,” she disagreed. “Unzip it for me?”  
Adam followed her order, then he kissed her neck and whispered in her ear: “Do you need help to take it off too?”  
For a moment Lauren let herself to get involved by her husband’s charms but reality called her back.  
“Not now, Adam,” she moved away from him. “The damn dinner is tomorrow and I still couldn’t decide what to wear.”  
He sat on the bed and watched her coming back and forth from the closet again while whining about Kate Fox, he noticed she started to look upset.  
“Come here,” Adam asked her.  
She sat in front of him and he held her hand.  
“We don’t have to do this, you know,” he said.  
“I want to, it’s the only way she’ll leave us alone.”  
“Then promise me you’ll stop overstressing, you look beautiful in anything you wear.”  
Lauren quickly smiled and looked down.  
“I’m afraid she’ll look better than me and try to seduce you again, I...”  
Adam interrupted her with a long, passionate kiss, then he laid on top of her and went down to her neck, giving soft and gentle kisses. He could feel her hands on his back, pulling up his shirt, he finished taking it off for her and they swapped positions.  
On top of him now, Lauren pressed her lips on his, finishing it with a little bite, then she moved down to his chin, to his neck and finally to his chest.  
“Can you help me to get rid of this dress before we proceed?” She asked.  
Adam nodded yes and helped her to get undressed.  
“After this, you won’t even remember her,” she said, staring him in a seductive way.  
“Who?” Asked Adam. “You know you’re the only one in my mind.”  
He involved her in another hot and intense kiss as he ran his hands through her thighs.  
In front of them, a voice on the TV could be heard:  
_“And now, our special guest on tonight’s show... Kate Fox!”_  
Lauren and Adam stopped and looked at each other.  
“You gotta be kidding me!” She exclaimed, frustrated. The TV wasn’t the only one to be turned off for the rest of the night.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
In the morning, Lauren woke up in a very bad mood, Kate’s presence was ruining everything around her again, that woman brought misery and misfortune wherever she passed.  
A huge smile was back on her face when she finished her shower and found a box on the bed waiting for her. Adam got up ealier only to buy her the most perfect dress.  
They were having breakfast while the kids played video games in the living room. Lauren and Adam could hear them talking about the dinner, David had been plotting a revenge plan since they told them about the past, he planned to hack Kate’s database and mess up with her perfect matches, people would go on terrible dates and her reputation would be harmed, like his father’s. Serenity complained every 5 minutes that she hated vegan dishes so Lucas suggested they should order a pizza with lots of bacon using Kate’s phone.  
“I’m glad to see he’s being himself again,” Adam said.  
“Oh yes, and there’s some news,” Lauren announced. “The boys who bullied him were expelled from the team and the coach said he may be playing in the final games, he’s very excited.”  
“That’s my boy.”  
They smiled at each other.  
“Come on, Serenity!” David whined. “Why did you kill me? I’m on your team!”  
“Crap!” Lucas shouted. “She killed me too.”  
“I’m winning this alone. Nobody beats my score!” The girl bragged.  
“You’re such a party pooper.” David dropped the joystick.  
“Let’s go to my bedroom,” Lucas said. “We can play something else on my computer. Leave her alone with her score.”  
The girl start to insult them about how they couldn’t accept she was the better player and the kids started to argue.  
Adam looked at his wife.  
“So, do you want to have another one?” He asked, joking. “I read it’s hard, but still possible.”  
Lauren gave him an astonished look.  
“No, thanks.”  
“If you two go upstairs, I’m gonna delete all your progress from all these games.” Serenity yelled.  
“Do it, it’s dad’s ID anyways,” Lucas shrugged.  
“Hey!” Adam yelled from the kitchen.  
He noticed Lauren was laughing.  
“For the record, I was joking when I asked if you wanted another child.”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I wish you’d be here with me tonight,” said Kate. “She’s gonna eat me alive.”  
“Kate, Lauren is the easiest person to deal with,” Victoria replied while helping her friend to chop the vegetables. “All you have to do is to play her game.”  
Kate checked if the water was boiling and turned back to Victoria.  
“I don’t know how you do that. How was your first week working in the viper’s nest?”  
“I couldn’t have asked for a better job. I don’t have much to do, so she sends me home earlier. She invited me to have lunch with her, and she paid. She offered me some shoes of their new line for testing. Oh, and I have a very good salary.”  
Kate gave her a surprised look, she could bet Victoria wouldn’t work with Lauren for over a month.  
“There’s one single rule I learned from the other girls who work there: do not talk to Adam, unless it’s an extreme case. You follow this rule and your job is guaranteed for a long time.”  
“She’s crazy,” Kate insisted.  
“Be honest, wouldn’t you be?” Asked Victoria. “The guy still looks hot, even after all this time.”  
“If she ever hear you saying that,” Kate pointed her the knife she was holding, “you’ll be cut to pieces, like this tomato.”  
Victoria laughed and told her about how one of the female employees she met uses a fake engagement ring to convince Lauren she’s not single. Then they remembered the old times, they talked about Michael, Nick and the guys Victoria dated while Kate was away. Kate’s phone rang and she left to the living room to answer it.  
“It was Josh,” Kate said when she came back. “He’s coming home tomorrow.”  
“Nice,” Victoria muttered.  
“Maybe you should know him better, let’s go out someday, the three of us.”  
“Someday, Kate.”  
After that, they barely talked for the rest of the afternoon. Kate wondered if her friendship with Victoria would ever be the same from 12 years ago.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Ok, let’s repeat for the last time,” Lauren said from the front seat of the car.  
“We won’t open our mouths for the rest of the night,” Lucas started.  
“We’re only allowed to say the following sentences: _Hello Ms. Fox, Yes Ms. Fox, No Ms. Fox, Please Ms. Fox_ and _Good Bye Ms. Fox_ ,” David continued.  
“Especially me,” finished Serenity, the loudest mouth of the three.  
“Ok. Now Adam, what’s the safe word?”  
“Apples.”  
“Right,” Lauren confirmed.  
“There’s still time to give up,” Adam suggested as they approached Kate’s house.  
“No, we’re doing this.”  
He stopped the car and they walked to the front door. Lauren couldn’t help notice how big and fancy her house was, her matchmaker career was really giving her a good profit. Adam rang the bell and Kate quickly showed up.  
“Oh, hello,” she greeted, uncomfortable. “I was waiting for you, guys.”  
“Hello, Kate,” replied Lauren. “These are our kids, Lucas, David and Serenity”  
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Fox,” said David.  
“Hi, I’m Lucas.”  
“Serenity.” The little girl looked at Kate from head to toe.  
Kate could tell she was judging her. She looked like a mini version of her mother.  
“Hi,” said Adam, barely looking her in the eyes.  
Kate took them to the dining room.  
“Could you guys sit down, please? The dinner will be served shortly.”  
The Logans placed themselves around the large table. A man Kate hired served a drink to the adults and a young woman appeared bringing Kate’s children.  
“These are my kids, Hazle and Bradley,” Kate introduced. “They’ll be in the play room with the nanny, if you kids want you can go there too.”  
None of the three Logan kids said a word.  
“Thank you, Kate but I think they want to eat first,” said Lauren.  
15 minutes passed and a permanent silence prevailed in the room. The only sound that could be heard was Adam playing with the ice cubes in his glass. Lauren was actively staring at Kate, expecting her to make a move.  
“So, I invited you guys tonight because there’s something I’d like to tell you,” Kate broke the silence.  
“We’re listening,” added Lauren.  
“Adam,” she started. “I know the harm I caused to you, to your family, to your career... It was never my intention and I wish I had done something back then to help you, to prevent you from going to prison. I was a coward, I was afraid to get involved. I’m really sorry.”  
“Apologies accepted,” he said in response.  
Kate wasn’t happy with the tone of his voice or his expression, she could tell he only wanted it to be over and he was still resentful.  
“If you want I can give you back the amount of money you lost.”  
He looked at her in disbelief, an ironic smile appeared in the corner of his mouth.  
“Money is not a problem, Kate,” Lauren replied. “We’re fine.”  
Serenity couldn’t control herself anymore.  
“How **much** are we talking about?!” She asked, assuming it should be something big, after all her father wouldn’t be pissed all this time for a few thousand dollars.  
“Serenity!” Lauren scolded.  
“It’s not right, you know,” David continued. “There’s a lot of other factors you need to keep mind when calculating...” He stopped when Lauren glared at him.  
“Ok,” Kate finished. “Is there anything I could do to repair my mistake?”  
_You could disappear again_ , Lauren thought. _That would be enough_.  
“No, we just want to end this and turn the page,” Adam said. “But don’t expect me to trust you or act friendly around you again.”  
“Fair enough,” Kate sadly agreed.  
The dinner was served and the silence was restored. The kids started to look at each other, then to their plates still full of food and laugh, Lauren was afraid they were secretly up to something but it was only Lucas playing with the vegetables. She also noticed Kate was stressed to the point her hands were shaking, for some reason Lauren started to feel bad for her and decided to start a conversation.  
“So Kate, where’s your husband?”  
“He had a reunion in San Francisco with some friends from Berkeley.”  
“Mom went to Berkeley too,” said David.  
“Oh, really?” Asked Kate.  
“Yes, and I’m going too. I’ll be a mechanical engineer when I grow up.”  
Lauren took a look around the room to see if she could find any family pictures but there wasn’t any, Kate had mentioned previously she had no time to organize the house yet. There was still a few boxes lying in the living room.  
Adam noticed she acquired a worried expression, maybe because _Berkeley_ and _reunion_ were potential topics of _that_ subject. Anything that linked Lauren to that part of her past caused her anxiety.  
“Apples,” he said.  
“What?” Asked Kate, interrupting her conversation with David.  
“The smell in the air.”  
“Oh, I prepared an apple pie as dessert. I’m gonna ask them to serve.”  
As she left the room, Lauren smiled at him and whispered “thank you”.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
For pure curiosity or maybe because she had a bad feeling, Lauren insisted on finding out more about Kate’s husband. After she gave them a tour around the house, they all sat down in the living room and the kids got entertained with the photo albums of the countries Kate had lived. Adam kept looking at his watch at every 5 minutes, hoping that night would be over soon.  
“Huh, Kate?” Lauren asked. “Where’s the bathroom?”  
“Over there,” Kate pointed to the corridor, then at left. “Do you want me to show you the way?”  
“Oh no, that’s ok.”  
First she really walked to the bathroom, just in case Kate followed her to check if she had found the right door, then after a couple minutes she went for her real target, Kate’s bedroom. Now all she had to find was a portrait, a laptop or even a cellphone where she could finally see a picture of the mystery man.  
Fortunatelly, Kate left her laptop on her bed but when Lauren turned it on, the password screen appeared.  
_Damn it_ , she thought. She tried Kate’s children names first, then her house number. Before she made her third attempt, a notification said the operational system would be blocked in case the wrong password was inserted again. If only David was there, he was very good at guessing passwords. Lauren tried to remember every detail she could about Kate Fox but the only thing she vaguely remembered was her birthdate. _“093076”_ , she tried and _voilà_ , she had access.  
“Oh Kate, you’re so predictable,” she said, eyerolling.  
She quickly clicked on her documents, next on a folder tagged as _“Hazel’s 6th birthday”_.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kate was starting to sweat, the tension between she and Adam was getting awkward. She asked the first thing that came to her mind.  
“How’s Michael?”  
She later realized it was very stupid of her to ask about her ex-boyfriend, that happened to be Lauren’s ex too.  
“Alive, I guess,” answered Adam. “Probably drunk in some Asian bar trying to get over his second divorce.”  
“I’m sorry about that.”  
Adam didn’t say anything else, the atmosphere was just getting tense again when Lucas joined the conversation.  
“Are you talking about _uncle Michael_? We rarely see him now.”  
“That’s a shame,” said Kate, wondering if she was saying the right thing.  
“Especially now my mom prohibited him to enter our house,” he told. “On my last birthday party, right after he got dumped, he got so drunk he slept on the couch and threw up on mom’s favorite carpet.”  
“Sounds bad.”  
“Yes, but it was funny,” the boy smiled.  
“It has been almost a year,” Adam finished. “He seems to be doing better now.”  
“Ms. Fox?” Asked Serenity, interrupting them. “Do you play guitar?”  
The girl pointed to an accoustic guitar in the corner of the room.  
“No, my husband does,” Kate replied. “Why? Do you like playing?”  
“Yes, but my mom won’t let me take classes.”  
Serenity held the guitar and tried to play a few notes. Kate knew nothing about music but she seemed to have some talent.  
“Serenity?” Lauren was back to the living room. “I thought I was clear when I told you to not touch anything.”  
“That’s ok,” Kate tried to calm her. “She seems to have a natural talent for music anyways.”  
“No, she doesn’t!” Lauren raged.  
The little girl had tears in her eyes, she put the guitar back in the place and ran to Adam.  
“It’s getting late,” Adam said. “We should go.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
On the way back home, Lauren was quiet, too quiet. Adam started to figure out what he had done wrong, or what he hadn’t done, or if it was something he said.  
Later, when the kids were already in bed, he finally confronted his wife.  
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He asked. “I understand that, like me, you still have hard feelings for Kate but you didn’t need to treat Serenity like that.”  
Lauren was still mute. Adam noticed she was about to cry.  
“You can’t stop her from doing what she likes simply because you think...”  
“He’s back, Adam!” She interrupted. Tears started to fall from her eyes.  
“What?” Adam was confused, he involved her in his arms. “What are you talking about?”  
“Kate’s husband,” she sobbed. “It’s Joshua.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes:  
> * Trigger Warning (slight suicide attempt and abuse/violence on Flashbacks #3 and #4)  
> * Flashbacks are in italic and between "-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-" lines

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Flashback: 10 years ago - November, 2005**  
  
“Awesome, Luke!” Exclaimed Lauren. “Your daddy is going to be so proud of you.”  
She held the infant in her arms and walked inside her small, two-bedroom house. Now baby Lucas was starting to grow she felt he needed more space to crawl, walk and play, an apartment didn’t feel appropriate anymore.  
The phone was ringing and she picked up.  
“Hi Michael,” she said. “Guess who’s getting better and better at walking?”  
What’d have been of her if it wasn’t for Michael Mendelson? He was there to support her in everything after Adam’s condemnation, he took her to medical appointments, he helped her to take care of Luke in the first days after his birth, he found them that house for an affordable price, she would never be able to thank him enough.  
“I’m sorry, I won’t be able to attend your birthday party... I coundn’t find a babysitter,” Lauren lied. She wouldn’t trust anybody to take care of her son, since he was born she could count the times they were separated.  
“Do you have any news from him?” She asked. “No, me neither.”  
Lauren tried to visit Adam in prison three times but she was never able to see him. “He doesn’t want visitors,” she was informed. The letters she sent him were all returned. The only news she had were through his lawyer, they were trying to reduce his penalty to one year and half instead of two years. Maybe he’d be finally be able to meet his son and spend Christmas with him.  
As soon as she hung up the phone she heard a knock on the door.  
“Dada,” Lucas said.  
“Oh baby, it’s not him yet,” Lauren lamented.  
She opened the door and for her surprise it wasn’t a person she expected to see anytime soon.  
“Hello stranger!” He greeted.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Present days - April, 2016:**  
  
Lauren woke up earlier than usual that Sunday morning. Her head hurt and she felt tired, the nightmares she had were still giving her shivers. She turned to her right side and noticed Adam wasn’t there. She checked and the kids were still asleep, then she walked downstairs and found her husband on the couch, staring at the TV, judging by his face he hadn’t had any sleep that night.  
“Adam?” She called. He glanced at her, but no answer. “We should to talk.”  
She approached him.  
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he said. “I’m gonna take a shower and then I’m going out for a walk.”  
“It’s not my fault!” Lauren cried as he started to walk away from her. “If I could change the past, I would.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Baby? I’m home,” Josh announced.  
“Oh my God! I missed you so much,” Kate said, wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist and kissing him.  
“I missed you too. Where are the kids? I have something for them.”  
“Still sleeping.”  
“That’s a great house, it looks better than in the pics you sent me,” Josh started to walk around. When he made to the kitchen, he noticed Kate had guests recently. “Oh, my girl threw party and I wasn’t invited?” He joked.  
“I invited some... people for dinner, that’s all,” Kate explained. “Remember that guy I told you? The one that was in prison because of me?”  
Josh involved her in his arms.  
“Yeah... I’ve told you a million times it wasn’t your fault.”  
“But I still felt bad, you know? So I invited he and his family for dinner.”  
“And everything is fine now?” Josh asked, knowing his wife hated leaving things unsolved.  
“Kind of.”  
Josh was amazed by the backyard and the pool area, he quickly walked there with Kate following him.  
“His wife went to Berkeley too,” Kate told. “You two are the same age, maybe you know her.”  
“Really? What’s her name?” Josh asked, not really paying attention. The little golf camp caught his interest more than that conversation.  
“Lauren Logan?”  
Josh froze for a second. How was that even possible? He couldn’t let Kate know he was bothered, he needed to keep a straight face. He took a deep breath and turned to her.  
“Listen Kate, I don’t mind you making friends and throwing parties, but next time I’d appreciate if you told me first, it’s my house too.”  
Kate couldn’t understand why he seemed upset, Josh never displayed any signs of jealousy. Sometimes she thought he was even too careless about other men being around her.  
“What?” She asked, confused. “If you want I can invite them again,” she joked.  
“There’s no need,” he said, angry. “I’m gonna check the kids.”  
Josh walked away leaving Kate inquisitive about his bad reaction.  
_He must be tired_. She thought.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren cried as she noticed Adam left. Somehow she hoped that after his shower they’d be able to talk but he refused to even look at her. She started to feel disgusted at herself again, she had so many regrets. Her husband didn’t know how much time it took her to get rid of those feelings before. The therapist wasn’t only for the anger management sessions. All the time she wished she had done things differently.  
“Mom?” David asked. “Are you crying?”  
She quickly wiped the tears from her face.  
“No, baby,” she lied. “Hey, what are doing up so early?”  
He sat next to her on the couch.  
“Don’t lie to me,” he said. “You and dad were fighting, I heard.”  
“We weren’t fighting, Dave. We’re only... going to through a problem.”  
“Can it be solved?”  
“I guess so,” she smiled.  
“So it’s nothing really big, right?”  
“Not at all.”  
The boy hugged his mother.  
“Sounds like you need some smiley pancakes,” he suggested. “I’m gonna make them for you.”  
“Let’s go,” she got up. “I’ll help you.”  
She thought better and decided, she wouldn’t change the past _at all_.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Flashback: 10 years ago - November, 2005**  
  
_“That’s a lot of booze,” Lauren laughed while looking inside the package Josh brought from the grocery store. When she told him she wouldn’t be able to go out with him, he suggested they should party at home._  
_“C’mon, it’s like the old times,” Josh said. “Remember when we stole all that alcohol from your father?”_  
_“You know we’re not 16 anymore, right?”_  
_Josh grinned, looking her in the eyes._  
_“You haven’t aged a bit, pretty.”_  
_Lauren blushed, the butterflies in her stomach made her feel awkward._  
_“Mama!” Lucas interrupted, his little hands grabbed her skirt._  
_“Hey, I’m gonna put the baby to bed then we...”_  
_“That’s okay, take your time.”_  
_Lauren knew Josh since she was born, literally. Their mothers were friends during High School and a few years later they met again when Josh’s mother moved to the same street as Lauren’s family in San Francisco. When she was born, Josh was only 5 months old so his mother babysat her too. They grew up together, discovered things together and went college together. Their “friendship” faded away after she married Adam._  
_When Lauren came back to the living room, Josh was already drinking and holding a card he found on the coffee table._  
_“Lauren Logan - Marketing Advisor?” He read aloud. “Sounds promising.”_  
_“Yeah, I’m working from home.” Lauren told. “It’s not a big deal but it’s enough for me and Luke.”_  
_Truth was that Adam’s scandal affected her too, no one would employ her after finding out she was his wife and had worked for Mother Earth. Because of that she started her little office at home._  
_Lauren joined Josh and for the next few hours she allowed herself to forget her problems. It was about 1 a.m when she realized she was too drunk for her own good._  
_“Shit, Joshua!” She laughed. “Look what you’ve done to me! I’m a mother now.”_  
_“Why did you do that?” He asked, serious. “I mean, having a kid.”_  
_“I wanted it. Adam and I, we tried for years and right when we were getting divorced... it happened.”_  
_Josh shook his head in displeasure._  
_“Don’t you want to have your own kids someday?” Lauren asked._  
_“No.” He announced. “At least not for the next few years.”_  
_Lauren noticed that conversation somehow caused him discomfort. She could imagine why, it was better to drop that subject._  
_“So, are you seeing someone?”_  
_“Only fooling around, you know,” Josh smiled again._  
_“Same old Josh,” she joked. “As for me, I don’t even know what sex feels like anymore.”_  
_Her comment made Josh spit his drink and laugh._  
_“You?! Right, fool me.”_  
_“It’s true,” she reaffirmed. “The last time was when I made my kid.”_  
_“It’s almost 2 years!” Josh made the counts. “Let’s check.”_  
_He pulled her closer and kissed her._  
_“What are you doing?” Lauren asked._  
_“Testing you,” Josh said. “To see if you still got it.”_  
_“I don’t wanna do that. I feel bad, legally I’m still married.”_  
_“The only thing that separate you from being single is a signed paper.”_  
_“I know that,” Lauren lamented. “But I still love him.”_  
_“Yeah,” Josh teased. “And before going to prison the playboy probably screwed the whole LA and San Francisco too.”_  
_“I need another drink.”_  
_Lauren got up and stumbled to the kitchen, using the walls as support. She opened the last bottle of vodka and started to wonder if Adam ever slept with **her** , Kate Fox. She was jealous of other women but Kate bothered her in a special way, maybe because Adam seemed to have feelings for her. That thought made her abandon the decision of having more alcohol. _  
_She was walking back to the living room when Josh pinned her against the wall._  
_“I want you, pretty,” he whispered._  
_The anger inside her and the closeness of their mouths only motivated her to move forward. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his, then she inserted her tongue inside his mouth. Josh kissed her back, he knew exactly what to do to turn her on, they had done that many times in the past, he playfully nipped her lower lip. Lauren wrapped her legs around his waist bringing him even closer. Josh held her up and moved his mouth down to her neck, the kisses and soft bites he gave her made Lauren moan in pleasure. Suddently she pushed him away._  
_“Shhh, we’re gonna wake up the baby,” she grabbed his hand with a seductive smile on her face. “Let’s go to my bedroom.”_  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Present days:**  
  
Adam stopped by the beach, he felt confused, angry, sad and above all, scared. He couldn’t let anything or _anybody_ split up his family. He had been strong since he and Lauren got back together but what would be his limit? How much he’d be able to take?  
“Hey you,” a female voice called him, it was Victoria.  
“Hey,” he replied as she approached him. “Good morning.”  
“Are you alright?” Victoria asked, noticing he looked terrible.  
“Yeah...” Adam lied. “I couldn’t sleep at night, that’s all.”  
“Oh, I know!” She smiled. “The dinner with Kate, right?”  
“No, the dinner was okay. Issues at home.”  
Victoria assumed Lauren was probably driving her husband crazy because of Kate.  
“Tell Lauren to chill out, Kate is married now.”  
“Great husband she has, huh?!”  
Victoria noticed Adam had some anger in his voice.  
“To be honest I don’t really like him but...”  
“Why?” Adam asked, interested.  
“I don’t know, he’s... weird?” She was intrigued. “You know him?”  
“Err... No. I’ve never seen him before,” Adam lied. “Well, I should go now. I need to solve things with my wife.”  
He rushed away from her.  
“Ok, bye then!” Victoria yelled as Adam disappeared from her view. _Weird,_ she thought.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Flashback: 9 years ago - January, 2007**  
  
_Adam opened his eyes, his vision was still blurred and his mouth was dry. He had no idea where he was and for how long he had been sleeping, the last thing he remembered was passing out in the Napa house after mixing lots of alcohol with sleeping pills._  
_“Hey, handsome,” he heard. He knew that voice. “You scared me.” It was Lauren._  
_He opened his mouth and mumbled “I’m sorry.”_  
_When he was finally able to see her, he noticed she was crying._  
_“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. “You should’ve called me, I’d be there for you. And Adam, your mother lied to you, our baby is alive.”_  
_He didn’t know what to say, he moved his hand slowly and reached hers._  
_“Everything will be alright now,” she conforted him. “You’re going home with me.”_  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Present days:**  
  
When Serenity didn’t show up for breakfast Lauren figured out there was something wrong, she was usually the first one to get up and then she’d wake up the rest of the family. She entered the little girl’s room and she was still in bed, when Serenity noticed her mother’s presence she quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.  
“I know you’re awake, little miss,” Lauren said. “Stop pretending.”  
“I’m not awake. Not for you.”  
_Ouch!_ Lauren thought. Then she remembered last night she overreacted to Serenity playing the guitar.  
“Well, Lucas and David are going to eat all those yummy pancakes and who knows when the zombie apocalypse is happening, right? There will be no more pancakes in this world, the zombies will eat everything.”  
Serenity sat down, looking angry.  
“Mom, zombies eat brains, not pancakes.”  
“So it’s the pancake apocalypse?”  
“Stop, you’re not good at this.”  
“Right.” Lauren agreed. “Let’s go downstairs, baby. It’s getting late.”  
“I’m never leaving this room again,” Serenity laid again and covered her head with the blanket.  
“It’s really a shame because we were going to enroll you on the guitar classes tomorrow.”  
Serenity sat down again, looking excited.  
“Really?”  
Lauren nodded affirmatively.  
The little girl grinned for a moment but then she changed her expression again.  
“You know, mommy. Sometimes I think you don’t like me.”  
“Why are you saying that?” Lauren asked. “You’re my baby, I love you.”  
“You support Luke playing soccer and David... doing his nerdy stuff, but you don’t wanted me to do what I like.”  
“I’m sorry, baby. I realized how wrong I was, from today you can do anything you like.”  
“ _ **Anything?!**_ ” Serenity asked.  
“Well, almost...” Lauren laughed, laying on the bed and cuddling with her little girl.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Flashback: 9 years ago - February, 2007**  
  
_Adam had been living with Lauren for one month now. He couldn’t say he felt better, but at least he felt safe. She was always there to calm him down during his anxiety attacks and tried hard to make him smile._  
_His son, Lucas, was afraid of him. Lauren said it was because he wasn’t used having him around. He found comfort where he never expected, David, Lauren’s baby, was being his best friend. The way that tiny and cute human-being looked at him and giggled, trying to get his attention all the time melted his heart._  
_It was a Monday morning when he held the little boy in his arms when he had just woken up. Lauren was in the living room talking to someone._  
_“Morning, buddy,” Adam said. “Another day has passed and I’m still here. You’ve been helping me a lot, you know?”_  
_The baby boy smiled._  
_“Are you going crazy?!” Lauren yelled in the living room._  
_“Definitely not a client”, Adam thought. He put baby David back on his crib and walked to the corridor._  
_“Lauren, I’m paying for it!” The male angered. “You’re doing this you want it or not!”_  
_“Never!”_  
_That was when he grabbed her by the wrists and tried to drag her to the door._  
_“Let me go, Joshua!” She shouted. “Take your hands of me!”_  
_Adam ran to the living room just in time to see Lauren violently fell on the floor as she tried to get away from the man. He noticed she was bleeding._  
_“What the... It wasn’t me! I didn’t push you... stop saying that!”_  
_Adam didn’t think twice before landing a punch right on Joshua’s face._  
_“Get out of here,” he demanded. “If I ever see you close to my wife and my kids again, I’ll kill you.”_  
_After Joshua left he went to Lauren. She seemed to be in a lot of pain._  
_“Adam... take me to the hospital... quickly,” she panted. “I’m pregnant again.”_  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
**Present days** :  
  
When Adam entered home he was ready to explode and tell Lauren what he was avoiding for hours, he was interrupted by Serenity who jumped on his lap.  
“Daddy! I was waiting for you,” she said. “Remember you promised you’d watch the Sci-Fi marathon with me?”  
“Oh, that’s true. I forgot.”  
His little girl was getting too big and heavy for his lap, but he needed to cherish that moment. He held her really tight and stroked her soft and straight light brown hair.  
“Wait for me in your room, ok? I need to talk to mommy first.”  
She nodded yes and ran to her bedroom.  
Adam asked Lauren to go to the office they had at home so they could talk away from the kids. She followed him and they locked the door. Lauren waited for him to say something first.  
He took some deep breaths and said:  
“They’re **_my_** kids, ok?” Lauren noticed he was about to cry. “He rejected them, he nearly killed **_my_** baby girl, it doesn’t matter what any paternity test says, he’s **NOT** their father!”  
Lauren hugged him from behind.  
“Of course they’re your kids, look at them,” she started. “David is such a good, sweet and caring boy... and he’s goofy and playful just like you!”  
“And Serenity? She’s mini Adam in a dress!” Lauren continued. “She likes all that geeky stuff you like, spaceships, dinosaurs, crazy theories... and she’s outgoing, funny like you.”  
Adam turned around and hugged her tightly. He felt tears were falling from her eyes too.  
“I’m afraid of losing them...” he said. “And you.”  
“This will never happen, ok?” Lauren assured him. “I hate that man, I won’t let him come any closer to **_our_** family.”  
Adam sat on an armchair, barely breathing.  
“What if he wants them now? He has children with Kate,” Adam questioned. “What if he goes to a judge to prove he’s their father?”  
Lauren thought for a while. During the last 9 years Joshua never tried to contact her to know about her kids, he probably had no regrets. She doubted he had any interest to repair his mistakes.  
“I doubt he’ll come after us, Adam,” she said. “But if he does, we’ll move out of Los Angeles, we’ll go somewhere far away from him, Kate, everybody... No one will destroy our family, I promise you.”  
Later, Lauren told him how guilty she felt for sleeping with Joshua when they were separated. In the first time she was drunk and when she got pregnant with Serenity she only gave in because he insisted so much and refused to use protection. She also told him about the therapy sessions.  
“Hey, stop feeling this way, ok? You’re my gorgeous wife and I love you so much.” Adam said wiping her tears. “Our family is perfect the way it is, I wouldn’t change anything. He’s a monster but he gave us _**our babies**_.”  
Lauren smiled.  
“What if we spent the rest of the day watching the Sci-Fi marathon together, huh?” Adam asked. “All the five of us?”  
Lauren agreed.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh stared at the laptop’s screen, covering a part of the picture with his hand. Done. It was perfect now, he couldn’t see the playboy, only _his_ Lauren. He grinned.  
“Why are you smiling?” Kate asked.  
He closed the laptop and rested his head on the pillow.  
“Nothing baby, it’s only I’m **_really_** happy we’re back to LA.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Wake up, handsome!”  
Adam opened his eyes in surprise when a hugely excited Lauren landed on top of him.  
“What’s going on?” He asked, still drowsy. “Did they finally...”  
Lauren noticed he fell asleep again.  
“Adam!” She called. “It’s your birthday.”  
He finally opened his eyes and sat down, Adam loved to celebrate his birthday and his wife loved to throw parties for him. It wasn’t exactly his birthday yet, but they were celebrating in the weekend since May 4th would be the next Wednesday.  
“Oh my God,” he said to himself, “I had forgotten!”  
“But I didn’t,” Lauren smiled. “Everything’s ready for your party tonight.”  
Adam pulled her closer to him and she rested her head on his chest.  
“Cake?”  
“Lightsabers?”  
“Beer Pong?”  
Lauren nodded yes to all his questions.  
“Aren’t you the best wife ever?” Adam kissed her forehead.  
“You can bet on it.”  
Lauren pressed her lips on his.  
“What about the kids?” He asked.  
“They’ll be at a friend’s house until tomorrow.”  
“So...we have the house only for us?” Adam questioned in a suggestive way.  
“Yes,” Lauren said. “But there’s something I need to do first. I’m going to invite Victoria to the party, if you don’t mind.”  
“No, of course not.”  
Adam was glad to see Lauren was getting along with Victoria. It was the first time she wasn’t jealous of her female assistant, they seemed to be developing a friendship. Their kids also loved her, Serenity liked to discuss nail polish colors with Victoria and David wanted to teach her how to play Minecraft. For this reason, she and Adam agreed they’d keep pretending they never met before.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The last time Kate heard from her best friend was before Josh’s arrival, one week ago. She tried to call Victoria multiple times but she always had an excuse to avoid her. Josh suggested Kate should visit her and ask if she’d like to go out with them. He told Kate he felt bad their friendship got lost because of him.  
“There’s not going on, Kate,” Victoria lied. “I’ve been busy, that’s all.”  
“I know it’s because of Josh,” Kate argued. “Don’t lie to me.”  
After a long discussion, Victoria finally agreed to give Josh one more chance, she knew it wouldn’t change her mind but she didn’t want to upset Kate even more.  
“Great, I’m calling him to tell we’ll be hanging out tonight.”  
Victoria eyerolled.  
They heard the bell ringing.  
“Who is it?” Victoria asked.  
“It’s Lauren.”  
“Just a second.”  
Victoria exchanged looks with Kate. If Lauren found out they were friends, there were great chances she’d be fired.  
“Kate, you need to hide now,” she demanded. “Go to the laundry, quick.”  
Kate had no choice, Lauren would probably freak out and accuse her of using a friend to spy on her and Adam. When she entered the laundry she had a déjà vu feeling, it was the second time in her life she had to hide from Lauren.  
“Hey Vic,” she heard Lauren greeting, “how are you doing?”  
_Vic?! Are they intimate now?_ Kate thought.  
“Oh, I’m great...” Victoria was a little bit nervous. “I’m sorry, I’m kinda busy here... cleaning...”  
“I’m sorry for coming in such a bad time, Vic,” Lauren apologized. “I forgot asking you yesterday, would you like to come to Adam’s birthday party tonight?”  
Victoria mentally thanked the heavens. That was what she needed to escape going out with Joshua.  
“Of course... I mean, how should I get dressed?” She asked, remembering she had nothing sophisticated to wear at the moment.  
“Casual, it’s only a little celebration,” Lauren explained, “our house isn’t even that big for a huge party.”  
“I’ll be there, for sure.”  
Victoria couldn’t be any happier, but she felt guilty for disappointing Kate. After Lauren left she suggested they could go out for lunch in the next day but Kate had an commitment she couldn’t reschedule.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren returned home looking forward to spend some quality time with Adam. Since their conversation about Joshua they were facing a new stage in their relationship, it brought them even more closer. They were making new plans, discussing new possibilities in case they had to move out from LA and also spending less time working to be with their kids. It felt like when they just got married, 18 years ago.  
She looked for Adam but he wasn’t home, he left a note saying he’d be right back. While waiting for him, she turned on the stereo in her room to play a CD with their songs, then she prepared the bathtube, lighted some aromatic candles and changed clothes.  
She was sitting on the bed when Adam entered, breathless.  
“Oh, hey!” He exclaimed, surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be home yet.”  
“Where did you go?” Lauren asked, intrigued. She noticed he was a little tense.  
“I went out for a ride...” he started, knowing she’d be pissed. “On the motorcycle.”  
Adam bought the motorcycle 3 years ago from a friend who was selling it for a good price, he was looking for a new experience. The only times he had seen Lauren so mad was when she found out about Serenity’s name and when she lost the trial in court. For a moment Adam thought she’d attempt to kill him again, but he only had to sleep in the garage with the motorcycle for a week, until he promised her he’d sell it as soon as possible.  
“I can’t believe that, Adam,” Lauren scolded. “I’ve asked you a million times to sell that thing and you never listen.”  
“I swear it was the last time,” he lied. “Tomorrow I’m gonna announce it on the internet.”  
“Of course you will,” his wife whined, knowing he was trying to fool her again. “God forbids it’s still here when Lucas is old enough to drive. If you don’t sell it, I will!”  
Adam grinned. Everytime he used the motorcycle Lauren freaked out that way, it was even worse when the kids wanted to join him.  
“What if something happens to you? Huh?” She continued.  
“I don’t know,” Adam joked and kissed his wife forehead. “Then you can get another husband.”  
“Adam Logan!” Lauren yelled. “You never dare to say that again, are you listening?”  
Adam kept laughing at his enraged wife for a moment before interrupting her long rant with a kiss.  
“Stop freaking out, ok?” He tried to calm her down. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna put up with you until you’re a grumpy old lady.”  
She crossed her arms and stared him for a few seconds.  
“Only because of that I won’t show you the surprise I bought you.”  
“What surprise?” Adam inquired. “Come on, you know I hate surprises.”  
“Forget it, you’ll only see it on our anniversary now,” Lauren teased. “It’s only in... 11 months?”  
“Come on, I did nothing wrong!”  
“Bye Adam,” she said locking the bathroom door.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I can’t believe she chose Lauren over me,” shouted Kate.  
Deep down Josh was relieved Victoria was no longer going out with them. The way she stared him caused him fear, he also knew she was always telling Kate he had secrets to hide. In this case, he’d rather to keep a distance from his wife’s friend.  
“Who’s Lauren again?” He asked, pretending to be amnesic.  
“That crazy woman I told you about, Adam Logan’s wife.”  
_The playboy!_ Josh thought. He hated that guy.  
“Oh,” he faked, “didn’t she invite you to the party too?”  
“Of course not,” Kate replied. “If she knew I was there she’d fire Victoria. She has no idea we know each other.”  
“Huh...” Josh muttered. Now he had other plans in mind. “You know Kate, the guys invited me out for a drink too, so if you don’t mind I’ll be joining them tonight.”  
“That’s ok,” Kate agreed, frustrated. “You’re also distant since you came back from San Francisco, I must be the problem.”  
She left him alone, hoping he’d go after her immediately like always, but there was something he needed to do first. Kate wasn’t the priority in this case, he’d buy her flowers or jewellery later and she’d forgive him, _this_ couldn’t wait.  
He grabbed his phone and dialed.  
“Hi, I need an address...” he said.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Victoria arrived to the Logans’ residence, they lived in a comfortable and sophisticated house. It wasn’t so big as Kate’s but very tasteful and elegant. Right after she entered, she heard Adam calling her.  
“Hey Victoria,” he greeted with a drink in his hand.  
“Hey you,” she said. “Please, don’t get too close. I need my job.”  
“Don’t worry,” Adam laughed, “she likes you.”  
He offered to show her around and get her a drink, then they stopped in the pool area where they talked for a while. Victoria complimented the house and Adam told her they had been living there for 5 years, before that they were all cramped in a little 2 bedroom house.  
“Who could imagine, huh? You and Lauren getting back together.”  
“She was there for me when nobody else was,” Adam told. “When I was in prison I had a lot of time to realize our marriage issues were my fault too.”  
“I’m happy for you two, you make a cute couple.”  
“Thank you,” he smiled. “I love that crazy.”  
He barely finished his sentence when Lauren jumped on his back.  
“Gotcha, husband!”  
“We were just talking about you,” Adam said.  
“And I was looking for you, baby.”  
Lauren noticed it was Victoria who was talking to him.  
“Oh, hey Vic,” she greeted. “I was waiting for you, there’s some people I want you to meet and some stuff I wanna show you, but first... I need to beat this guy on Beer Pong again.” She wrapped her arms around Adam’s neck.  
“Are you sure?” He asked, noticing she was a little too _"happy"_. “I think you had enough drinking for tonight.”  
“Ok,” she agreed. “Then let’s go dancing, please handsome?”  
Adam took her hand and they left Victoria socializing with other guests.  
“I’ll be right back,” Lauren told her.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh parked the car close to Lauren’s house, having second thoughts. He feared he’d be recognized and Kate would know, what excuse he’d give to her? Oh right, he could tell he was trying to befriend Victoria and convince her to be Kate’s _BFF_ again. He eyerolled as he thought how pathetic it sounded, but Kate was a little naive, she’d buy it for sure. He could also improve it even better by saying he was trying to fix things with the playboy... Ops, Adam. He grinned.  
He entered the house feeling a little insecure, but passed unnoticed. Now he needed a safe spot where he could keep an eye on Lauren, the most important was to get her alone when she went to the bathroom or her room. That was when he saw her, dancing with the playboy, she looked gorgeous and happy. She kissed him passionately after whispering something in his ear, it felt like a punch to Josh’s stomach. He couldn’t watch it any longer, so he moved upstairs.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Tell me everything, Victoria,” Lauren requested, sitting on her bed. “Did you meet that guy I told you about?”  
“Yes!” Victoria was so excited she wouldn’t stop walking around. “Charming, good-looking, rich... He’s perfect!”  
“So, any chances he’ll invite you out?”  
“Unfortunately I don’t think so,” Victoria lamented. “But his best friend couldn’t keep his eyes off me, he’s also cute and funny... To be honest I think I like him better.”  
“Whoa, then go for it girl!” Lauren smiled.  
“I’m telling you, it’s fate,” Victoria joked. “It’s just like you and Adam, isn’t? You dated Michael and then you fell in love with his best friend.”  
Victoria realized she had talked more than she should, damn alcohol. Lauren had never mentioned Michael or how she and Adam met.  
“How do you know that?” Lauren questioned, intrigued. “Did Adam told you?”  
“Oh... Errr no... I mean we’ve never talked that much,” she tried to fix. “You told me. Don’t you remember?”  
Lauren was pensive for a minute. She didn’t recall telling Victoria about her past, but she had been so distracted lately with the Josh issue that it was probably affecting her memory.  
“I’m sorry, I’ve been a little inattentive later,” she apologized. “Problems at home.”  
Victoria took a relieved breath.  
“But you and Adam seemed so happy tonight,” she changed the subject.  
“Oh no, we are,” Lauren explained. “It’s just an certain issue from the past that can possibly disturb us again. I’ll tell you someday, when I’m sober,” she laughed.  
“Sure, you know you can trust me, for anything.”  
“Thank you, Vic. You’re being a good friend.”  
Victoria was still a little embarassed by her innapropriate comment, she was afraid to say something else by accident so she told Lauren she’d try to meet the cute guy again. Lauren remained in her room, talking about that certain situation made her feel confused and upset again.  
“Thinking about me, pretty?” She heard.  
She moved her eyes to the door and there was him, standing in front of her. Joshua.  
“What the hell are you doing here?” She got up from the bed and ran to the door, he stopped her.  
“I wanna talk to you,” he said, smiling and opening her arms expecting a hug. “I missed you, pretty.”  
“Get the fuck out of my way or I swear I’m gonna call the police!” Lauren threatened.  
“Please, calm down. If you keep yelling that playboy will show up here and try to play the tough guy on me again.”  
“Bastard! I hate you so much.” Lauren said, tears started to roll on her face. “Did you forget what you’ve done to me?”  
Josh came closer to her and wiped the tears with his fingers.  
“There isn’t a day I don’t think about it. You know, things just... took the wrong turn? But we can be like we were before.”  
“No, we can’t!” Lauren shouted. “You’re crazy, Joshua. You’re not my best friend anymore, the one I trusted the most. You’ve hurt me in so many ways, you wanted me to abort my child...”  She sobbed.  
Joshua was so nervous as she was. He didn’t know what he could possibly say to obtain her forgiveness, he could noticed she was afraid of him, it destroyed him inside.  
“I lost my mind, ok? I already told you I didn’t push you, you know that... I... I may have yelled with you too but I was desperate...”  
“Because I was pregnant?!” Lauren shouted. “Tell me, what’s the difference between me and Kate? Why did you reject my children and not hers?”  
Josh stroked his hair in anxiety.  
“I can tell you someday, but I need to know I can trust you first. Please, promise me you won’t tell Kate about us.”  
“Why would I?”  
“Ok... Oh, here is what I owe you,” he grabbed a check from his pocket, “I calculated everything, David’s going to be 10, right? And the girl, it’s Serenity, isn’t it? She...”  
“I don’t want your money,” Lauren interrupted. “They’re not your kids anymore.”  
“But someday they’ll be and we’ll be happy, the four of us.”  
“Oh my God,” Lauren laughed, “you must be going crazy.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Hey Vic,” Adam called. “Have you seen Lauren? I can’t find her anywhere.”  
Victoria said good bye to the guy she was talking to.  
“She was in the bedroom last time I saw her,” she replied to Adam.  
“Ok, I’m gonna look for her upstairs then.”  
Adam walked to the corridor in the second floor, he could hear voices coming from his bedroom. He opened the door a little and inside the room he could hear Lauren having a conversation with someone.  
“Pretty please, don’t me afraid of me,” Josh begged. “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he involved Lauren in his arms. “I still love you.”  
That scene made Adam unable to make a move. He wondered if Lauren felt the same way about Josh. He knew Josh had been her first love, her first man and that he asked her to runaway with him before they got married. What if she was only with him for pity? Would she go back to Joshua if she had a chance? He was going to lose his children, he knew that. And how was he supposed to live without David, Serenity and Lauren? He slammed the door and walked away.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Take your freakin’ hands off me, Joshua,” Lauren yelled, pushing him away.  
“That’s ok, I know you’re still angry,” he wrote down on a piece of paper, “but here’s my number. Someday you’ll look for me, I know that and you know too, we can’t resist each other.”  
Lauren slapped him in the face so hard that it broke the bracelet she was wearing.  
“Leave me alone, ok? On Monday the first thing I’m gonna do is to get a restraining order against you. I hate you.”  
She opened the door and ran away from him, she needed to find Adam.  
Downstairs, she asked many different people but no one had seen him, then she finally located Ethan.  
“Ethan, where is Adam?” She asked. “I need to talk to him, now!”  
“He just left in that motorcycle, he said he needed to cool off his head,” Ethan answered, noticing Lauren’s make up was blurred.  “What happened? Have you been crying?”  
She left before saying anything. First she tried to call Adam but as she had no answer, she got her car and went out, looking for him. What if he saw Josh in their bedroom with her and misinterpreted everything? She would never be able to forgive herself if something bad happened to her husband. Lauren started to cry again. Her phone rang, she stopped her car to answer. It was an unknown number, what gave her a really bad feeling.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
From the corridor, Victoria observed Josh talking to himself. _What is this freak doing here?_ She thought.  
“If she gets a restraining order Kate will find out... Damn it, Josh. You need to do something... You scared her off even more! You’re so stupid...”  
After he left, she noticed a bracelet on the floor, near the place he was. What and who was he talking about? What Kate could possibly find out? First, she needed to discover who was the bracelet’s owner, that could be the person he was referring to.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren sobbed inconsolable in the hospital’s waiting room. Nobody could inform her about Adam’s situation yet so she was starting to imagine the worse. She considered calling someone but her hands were shaking so much she couldn’t dial any numbers.  
“Lauren Logan?” The female doctor asked.  
“Yes, where’s my husband?”  
“Come with me.”  
Lauren followed the woman to her small office and sat down, waiting for the news.  
“Your husband is fine,” she announced. “He escaped with only some minor abrasions and bruises. We’re waiting for his x-ray results to confirm there were no fractures, then he can go home.”  
A nurse took Lauren to Adam’s room, he was laying on the bed, watching TV. Lauren hugged him tight and sobbed.  
“I’m ok, baby,” he said. “My body is sore but in a couple of days I’ll be good as new.”  
“I’m so sorry,” Lauren apologized. “I should’ve called the police as soon as I saw that bastard but...”  
“Hey, it was my mistake,” Adam interrupted. “When I saw that guy with his dirty hands on you I lost my mind, instead of going out with the motorcycle I should’ve kicked him out of our house.”  
“I’m gonna get a restraining order. He’ll never approach any of us again, I promise.”  
Lauren accommodated herself in the bed with Adam, resting her hand on his chest and laying her head next to his.  
“I love you, don’t doubt it not even for a second. I’d never leave you for him.”  
Adam smiled and kissed her forehead.  
“I love you too. Can we just forget that scumbag for the rest of the night?”  
Lauren agreed.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
On Monday, Adam was still a little sore and Lauren suggested he should stay home resting. She took the kids to school and went to the company only to sign some papers, she wanted to return to her husband as soon as possible.  
“Here Victoria,” she explained. “Ask them to send these papers to the address I wrote in the envelope.”  
 “Ok, but Lauren?” Victoria questioned. “What happened to Adam? Is he alright?”  
“It’s that damn motorcyle, he was probably trying to show off to his friends,” Lauren lied. “But he’s fine, only sore and bruised.”  
Lauren had already announced the motorcycle online, she expected to sell it in the next few days. Adam would never ride that thing again.  
“I’m going home to take care of him,” she said. “If somebody asks for me, please tell them to call my cellphone.”  
Lauren was leaving when Victoria called her back.  
“I found this bracelet in your house. Do you know who it belongs to?”  
“Oh, it’s mine!” Lauren exclaimed. “My kids gave it to me on my birthday last year. Thank you, Vic. I thought I had lost it in the hospital.”  
Victoria stared her confused. How did she and Josh know each other?


	6. Chapter 6

“Everyone’s ready?” Adam asked while the rest of the family sat down around the table. “Where’s David?” He asked, noticing his son wasn’t there.  
“He’s using the phone again,” Lucas answered. “He has been there for hours.”  
“Great,” Serenity joked, knowing her brother won the games most of the time. “Let him there doing his stuff.”  
Lauren and Adam exchanged glaces, expecting each other to know what their son was doing.  
“I’m gonna check on him,” Lauren said. “Wait for me.”  
She walked to the home office in time to hear the boy complaining.  
“Damn it.”  
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Lauren opened the door. David was sitting on the desk with small pile of papers and checking the white pages.  
“This project we’re doing for school,” he explained, upset. “We need to interview some people but no one is willing to answer the survey.”  
“What is it about?”  
“Environment conservation. Everyone has a different topic, I got this one about keeping the beaches clean.”  
“I have an idea,” Lauren suggested, “why don’t we go to the beach tomorrow and you try to interview people there?”  
“Good,” David agreed. “I hope they won’t be so rude in person as they were on the phone.”  
Lauren smiled.  
“We’re playing Monopoly. Will you join us?”  
The boy quickly got up.  
“Of course! I’m gonna win as always.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“My feet are cold,” Kate said.   
She and Josh were watching a movie together, hopeless romantic as she was, she picked _Love, Rosie_. Her choice didn’t please her husband, who preferred action or suspense, at first. Now he was so involved with the movie he wouldn’t pay attention to her attempts to get intimate with him.  
Josh was still and silent, Kate could swear his eyes weren’t even blinking. She placed her hand on his chest and moved closer to him, expecting to be kissed. He didn’t make a move, so she decided to go forward by pressing her lips against his.  
“I’m watching the movie, Kate,” he whined. “What do you want?”  
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, frustrated. “I didn’t know you’re enjoying it that much.”  
Josh paused the movie.  
“I don’t, but since you picked it I’d like to see how it ends.”  
Kate left him alone in the living room. She couldn’t understand what happened to her sweet and loving husband, since he came to Los Angeles he wasn’t the same. He didn’t seem to care about her or their kids anymore.  
“Where are you going?” He followed her to the bedroom.  
“You can finish watching your movie, I’m going to sleep.”  
“I’m sorry, baby,” Josh hugged her. “I can finish it tomorrow.”  
He involved his wife in a very passionate kiss. He tried hard to focus on Kate but all he had in his mind was Lauren. It was like he could taste her mouth, smell the scent of her hair and feel every inch of her body. That was the only way he found to get in the mood and give his wife what she wanted.  
“Now that’s my Josh,” Kate said, dragging him to the bed. “Know what I was thinking?”  
“No idea,” Josh replied, unconfortable with his wife running her fingers through his belly.  
“Bradley is almost four, I want another baby.”  
Kate noticed her wish caused Josh a lot of distress.   
“I don’t,” he said, jumping out of the bed. “Sorry.”  
“Can you at least consider it?” She questioned.  
Josh refused to hear Kate’s arguments of why another child could be a great addiction to their family. He locked himself in the guest room, feeling unhappy. He wanted her, his Lauren. The couple in the movie made him think about her, he wanted to finish watching it to make sure they had the happy ending he expected to have with Lauren.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Can we go out for lunch?” Victoria asked. “I need to tell you something.”  
“Sure,” Lauren smiled. “Please, don’t tell me I’m losing my best assistant.”  
“Errr... maybe?” She decided to tell Lauren everything, maybe she could finally find out the truth about Joshua.  
Lauren was about to question her why when Ethan knocked the door calling for her. Adam was pale white.   
“W-what on Earth are going to tell her?” He asked as soon as his wife left the room.  
“Don’t worry, it’s not what you’re thinking,” Victoria assured.  
“You have no idea, this woman she has a lie detector on her brain. If she ever finds out we dated before, she’ll kill us both.”  
“Adam, calm down. She won’t find out, not through me.”  
Lauren came back to her office, she looked a little disappointed. An emergency conference had been scheduled to that afternoon and she wouldn’t be able to go with Adam and the kids to the beach. After they finished talking she and Victoria went to a restaurant nearby.  
“What did you want to tell me, Vic?” She questioned, after they ordered the meal.  
“I wasn’t completely honest with you when I got the job,” Victoria confessed. “I’m sorry and I understand if you fire me after that.”  
“Go on,” Lauren asked. “I can’t imagine why I’d want to fire you.”  
“I’m friends with Kate. Kate Fox.”  
Lauren stared her for a moment, then she took a sip of her juice. Her lack of words scared Victoria.  
“How friends?” She finally asked.  
“She used to be my best friend in the past,” Victoria said. “But after she married that guy... we talk, we go out but it’s not like before.”  
“I see...” Victoria noticed a change in Lauren’s expression when she mentioned Josh. “Listen Victoria, since I allowed Kate to talk to my husband she kept her word of leaving us alone. For this reason, I don’t have problems with her so far.”  
“Does it mean I can keep my job?”  
“If you promise me nothing you see or hear at the office will come to her ears, then I don’t see why I should fire you.”  
“Of course,” Victoria smiled, relieved. “I won’t mix my personal life with my job, I promise.”  
“Good,” Lauren said. “I appreciate your honesty. It means I can really trust you.”  
Victoria started to think about the lie detector Adam mentioned earlier, for a moment it seemed Lauren was scanning her. She finally smiled and joked about the bad things her assistant probably heard about her in the past and how it was all true.  
“I really lose my mind when it comes to my husband,” Lauren laughed, “when we got back together one of the things he asked me was to attend anger management sessions.”  
“Adam is a good guy, you don’t have to worry about him.”  
“It’s not him, it’s all these women getting flirty around him all the time, got it?”  
“This why I never got married,” Victoria said as an opportunity to ask about Josh. “Have you met Kate’s husband? He makes me afraid of men.”  
“I-I... Errr... no, he was out of town when we went to her place for dinner.”  
“She says he’s Mr. Perfect but I don’t buy it, I’m pretty sure he has a lot of dirty in his past.”  
Lauren lost her appetite, it was like life wanted to rub Josh on her face every moment. For all these years she avoided thinking about him or saying his name, both she and Adam blocked him in every social media and she’d never visit his parents when she knew he was in San Francisco. She hated when she spotted any signs of him in David and Serenity, they had his hair, Serenity loved music like him and David shared the same passion for airplanes. She tried to keep them away from the things they had in common with their biological father but she was now learning it was something she couldn’t avoid.   
“Are you ok?” Victoria asked, noticing her boss looked nervous.  
“Oh, yes... I’ve got a headache, that’s all.”   
Victoria knew now, it was really Lauren that threatened Joshua with a restraining order, that meant things should be really bad between them. Yet, it’d need more time to make Lauren open up to her.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
In the morning, Kate got a phone call from her father asking her to give them some help at the lawfirm, something to do with an old case she was responsible for. Before leaving, she asked Josh to take their children to the beach, what, for him, sounded like a nightmare.  
“Daddy, buy me ice cream!” Bradley cried as soon as they arrived.  
“C’mon, buddy. Your mother doesn’t like...” Josh was interrupted by the little boy’s loud cry. “Screw that, I’m buying it.”  
  He bought two ice cream cones from the cart standing on the beach and offered to the children. All he wanted was Bradley to stop crying. Kate wouldn’t be pleased to find out the ice cream wasn’t dairy-free. Hazel stared him with a mischievous look.  
“There’s milk on this ice cream,” she said.  
“But you like it, don’t you?” Josh asked.  
The girl nodded her head in agreement. “But mommy said...”  
Josh knew his daughter would tell Kate as soon as she saw her mother. The more he tried he knew he was a failure as parent, he couldn’t get his kids to trust or, at least, obey him.  
Every move he made was a mistake and Kate would always point it out. In Florida, Hazel wanted to swim with dolphins, he took her and their happy moment only lasted a few hours, Kate gave them a long speech about animal abuse. Bradley had a fever and he did what any parent would’ve done, go to the drug store and buy a medication. When Kate got home she scolded him for ruining the natural treatment program Bradley’s pediatrician had been doing since he was born. He would never get it right. This is why he **never** wanted children.  
The kids finally got distracted with their sand castle. Josh took a relieved breath, until he looked to his right and saw _him_. _The playboy_. With _his_ children.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Come with me, Serenity,” David begged. “Please?”  
“It’s your homework,” the girl ignored him. “I’m gonna stay here playing with dad and Luke.”  
Adam noticed what was going on. David was the shyest of the three kids and was feeling a little insecure about doing interviews.  
“Hey buddy,” he said. “Do you want me to help you?”  
“No, dad. I have to do this on my own... I guess.”  
David knew his siblings would be laughing at him if he needed his father around to interview people for him.  
“You can do it,” Adam assured his son.  
The boy walked a few steps and looked back to his family.  
“Don’t go too far, ok?” His father asked.    
David agreed. Insecure as he was the last thing he wanted was to be to far from his family. If only Serenity had came...   
_Ok. Let’s get it started._ He thought. A group of teenage girls was sitting on the sand, laughing and reading magazines, maybe they could help him with his survey.  
“Errr.... Hi?” David said. The girls paid little attention to him. “I’m doing this survey for school, I was thinking if you could....”  
“Get lost, brat!” One of them shouted. The other ones in the group started to laugh.  
David lowered his head and walked a few more steps. Maybe his older brother’s advice wasn’t a bad idea at all, he could fill the surveys himself and invent some names. But he wanted to do it right, what if the teacher found out and he got a low grade because of that? He noticed a man sitting next to his two children. He could be a good pick, he wouldn’t want to give the kids a bad example, it was likely he’d at least treat him well. David put a smile back on his face and moved forward.  
“Excuse me, sir?”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh turned to his right side and he felt like he was about to have a heart-attack. That boy... looking at him... talking to him... he knew who he was from the pictures he saw online, it was David. His green eyes were exactly like his mother’s, as well for the rest of his facial features. The only time Josh had seen him was when he was a baby.  
The memories of that day kept popping in his mind. David was only 3 months old and Lauren insisted that he should hold him. He made her promise she wouldn’t tell their families yet, he had mixed feelings about being a father. He held David for a second and the baby started to cry, what had he done wrong? Did he hurt him? Josh panicked. He gave David back to Lauren and decided he’d never touch that child again.  
“Sir?” David insisted.  
“Oh... Hey.” Josh said, nervous. “I-I’m... huh... A-are you ok?”  
David nodded positively. “I only wanted to ask if you could fill this survey for me. Please?”  
Josh stopped again and stared the boy a little longer. A mix of emotions happening inside him. At the same time he wanted to runaway, he also wanted to hug David.  
“It only takes a minute,” David continued. That man was weird but at least he wasn’t calling him names. “You’ve been at school, you know this stuff sucks.”  
Josh smiled. He remembered when he had to do the same kind of homework, he hated it. Both him and Lauren were so shy they’d simply invent some names and interview each other, multiple times, with different answers.  
“Do you have a pen?” Josh asked.  
David handled him a pen and one of the surveys he was holding. Josh quickly filled the blank spaces and checked the answers.  
“Done,” he said.   
“Cool!” David exclaimed. “You were the only one to answer it. Thanks a lot, sir!”  
The boy was moving away when Josh called him back. He had no idea why, but he needed more time.  
“I-I... I have an idea,” Josh suggested. “Why don’t you leave the surveys here with me? I can help you.”  
David agreed.   
“So, meet me here again in...” Josh looked at his watch. “30 minutes?”  
“Thanks a lot, sir. You rock!”  
Josh smiled as David ran back to his siblings. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
In her office, Lauren was ready to call a lawyer regarding the restraining order against Joshua. She and Adam had been arguing a lot over that in the last few days, he insisted she was taking too long and that it was a matter of time before he did something against her or their children.  
She dialed the first digits and stopped.  
Josh had done absolutely nothing that justified the order. He went to her home, offered money for the years he had been away from David and Serenity and he wasn’t violent or anything. The only incident between them happened 9 years ago.  
Then she thought about herself. She’d never do anything to hurt Adam but she did in a moment of extreme anger. Her husband had all the reasons to press charges against her too but he didn’t.  
She decided to wait a little longer. If Josh tried to contact her again then she’d take actions against him.   
It was still early, if she left the office right now she could still go to the beach to meet Adam and the kids. She grabbed her purse and told Victoria she could go home too.   
They were in the elevator when it stopped two floors below. For their surprise, Kate entered.  
After a brief moment of tension, Kate was the first one to say something.  
“Hi, Lauren and hi...”  
“That’s ok,” Lauren interrupted, “she told me.”  
“Hi, Victoria,” Kate finished.  
“Hi, Kate,” Victoria responded.  
Everyone got silent again, glancing at each other from time to time.  
 _That would be worse if Adam was here,_ Victoria thought.  
 _Damn it, I should’ve finished that call,_ Lauren mentally lamented.  
 _How long it’s going to take?_ Kate wondered in silence.  
Suddently the lights went off and the elevator brutally stopped. They were stuck.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Thanks a lot!” David exclaimed as he saw all the surveys were filled. “How did you do that?”  
“You’re welcome,” Josh said. “Let’s just say I lied a little bit. I told people I was an environmentalist.”  
“I can’t thank you enough, you saved my grades.”  
Josh smiled. He thought about offering David an ice cream but he was afraid to sound creepy.   
“Hey, I’m gonna call my dad,” David announced. “He wants to meet you.”  
“Errr... I-I was just...” before Josh could finish his sentence David was already gone.  
He needed to get out of there as soon as possible before Adam saw him.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren felt so embarrassed being in that situation that the most strange thoughts were coming to her mind. Victoria tried to push Josh so hard in their conversation during lunch, it made her wonder if he slept with her too. That was very likely, coming from him. Life was punishing her for something she didn’t know what, she was stuck with two other women who slept with her... friend? No. Boyfriend? No. Friends with benefits! That was she and Josh used to be in past.   
It got even more awkward when she remembered Kate slept with Michael. That was sick. Did she sleep with Adam too? He always denied but she wasn’t totally sure. Before she could even realize, she exposed her thoughts.  
“Be honest with me, did you sleep with my husband?” She asked, clear and loud.  
It was dark. Victoria wasn’t sure who was the question directed too. She never had gone that far with Adam, because he didn’t want to. She was taking too long to answer, Lauren would assume she did.  
“No!” She shouted.  
“Not you, Victoria,” Lauren said, confused. “Kate.”  
“I can’t believe you’re still dwelling on it 12 years later,” Kate angered. “But if that is going to give you some peace of mind, no, I didn’t.”    
“Thank you, Kate,” Lauren grinned in satisfaction.  
“Did you really sleep with Michael in Laguna?”  
“No,” Lauren answered. “I was only trying to piss you off for flirting with my husband.”  
“Any other confessions?” Victoria joked.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“But he was there,” affirmed David, pointing to a spot in the sand, “I swear.”  
“It’s ok, Dave,” Adam stroked the son’s hair. “We know you did it all by yourself.”  
“I told you, dad,” Serenity joked, “he’s trying to play the shy boy excuse on us again.”  
David felt sad that man who helped him just vanished without even saying good bye. When he entered the car to go back home he took a quick look at the surveys, hoping he’d at least find out the man’s name. In the middle of the papers he found a note: _“Good luck, David. It was nice meeting you.”_  
He smiled. Later when he showed his siblings they kept insisting he invented it all.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I think my husband is cheating on me,” Kate announced.  
They had been trapped in the elevator for almost one hour now. Everytime any of them tried to start a conversation things would go terribly awkward so they decided the silence was a better option.  
“Ha! I told you,” Victoria taunted. “How did you find out?”  
“I didn’t, but since he came back from San Francisco he’s not the same. He’s cold, distant and we’re arguing all the time. Yesterday I told him I wanted another baby and he freaked out.”  
“Hmmm, seems like my theory is right...” Victoria said to herself, then she looked at Lauren, who seemed to be extremely annoyed. “Are you alright?”  
“Yes, I’m claustrophobic,” she said, “that’s all.”  
Lauren felt something burning inside her, she shouldn’t care about it at all, but Kate’s words enraged her. How could Josh have children with Kate and reject hers? It bothered her even if she knew they were better having Adam as father. For some reason, she didn’t want him to have another child with Kate. Wait, was it jealousy she was feeling? No, it wasn’t. But what if...  
“What theory, Victoria?” Her thoughts were interrupted by Kate’s shout. “If you know something you should tell me.”  
“It wasn’t his mother he was visiting in San Francisco,” Victoria concluded, “he has another family, it’s obvious.”  
 _That was close!_ Lauren thought.  
“It explains everything, why he never took you to his mother’s house, why he sucks as a father and why he’s so distant. He’s in love with his other wife.”  
“That’s ridiculous!” Kate replied. “There would be records or anything.”  
“They’re not legally married?” Victoria insisted.  
Lauren kept watching the discussion in silence. Victoria was right somehow, but she wasn’t sure Josh’s behavior had anything to do with her or her children. It was obvious he never took Kate to his mother’s house because of the many pictures of them she’d eventually show his wife. They grew up like brother and sister.   
“What’s your opinion?” Kate asked her. “You and Adam have been married for nearly two decades, you’re way more experienced than us.”  
“Don’t worry, Kate,” Laured said. “It’s only a phase, you guys just settled in LA after traveling the world for years, it’s a big change.”  
“Should I investigate, like Victoria suggested?”  
“No, just give him some space. Things will get back to normal, eventually.”  
Their conversation was interrupted when somebody finally fixed the elevator and set them free. Kate thanked Lauren for the advice, what made her feel twice as guilty. She suggested Kate should visit her and Adam some other time, maybe someday it’d be necessary to tell her the truth.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When she got home, Kate found a really desperate Josh. Bradley was sick of his tummy and looked very poorly. She didn’t even needed to ask, her husband didn’t follow the children’s special diet without dairy.   
“Of course he’s sick,” Kate yelled. “You gave them dairy.”  
“I’m sorry, Kate,” Josh apologized. “They had no dairy-free ice cream and they were driving me nuts.”  
“I can’t leave you alone with the kids for a few hours that you always mess up! What is your problem, Josh?”  
“I’ll tell you what my problem is... I-I...” he started but didn’t finish the sentence.   
He slammed the door and left the house.   
After driving without a direction for hours, Josh parked his car in front of the Logan’s residence, on his phone he observed the picture he snapped of David earlier that day. Then he directed his look to Lauren’s bedroom balcony, she was standing there. He smiled, wondering if his life would be any different if he had married her instead of Kate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note:   
> *Trigger Warning: mild violence, blood and language

“Lauren?” Adam knocked the ladies’ room door.   
His wife had been there for minutes, he decided to check what was wrong.  
“I’m sorry,” she opened the door looking awful. “I’m not feeling well.”  
“If you want we can go to the ER before going home.”  
“That’s ok, it’s only my stomach bothering me.”  
They went back to the restaurant’s table where their kids were waiting for them. Lauren assured them she was fine and only needed some rest. It wasn’t enough to convince Adam though, he still couldn’t find an explanation for her abnormal behavior. She seemed too quiet and preoccupied.   
“Adam, I’m not going to the office tomorrow,” she said after contemplating the window for minutes.  
“Of course not, baby,” Adam smiled, placing his hand on hers, “it’s Saturday.”  
“Mom, tomorrow is my final game,” Lucas announced. “Did you forget?”  
“Oh my God, it’s true!” She remembered. “It’s my boy’s big day tomorrow.”  
“We’ll be all cheering for you,” Adam told him. “David and Serenity will be filming everything, so you better do your best.”  
“You can be sure I will. Remember that guy who used to bully me?” Lucas asked. “His father is super pissed at the coach, he even threatened to get him fired for kicking his son out of the team.”  
“Well, your coach did what was right. He should’ve taught his kid it’s not how you treat his teammates, right Lauren?!”  
Adam noticed she was distracted again. He asked for the bill and drove his family back home. When they were alone in their room he finally asked:  
“So, can you tell me what is going on now?”  
“Here’s the problem,” Lauren said. “There’s nothing going on.”  
“I don’t get it,” Adam was confused. “Was it supposed to have something going on?”  
“Do you know that feeling you have that something is wrong but there’s nothing wrong around you?”  
“Uhhh... no?” Adam scratched his head.  
“I only felt this way twice in my life, before your... _incident_ in Napa and before David had a strong pneumonia right after he was born. See why I’m worried now?”  
Adam embraced his wife and kissed her cheek.  
“Everything is fine. I’m fine and our little trio was pretty energetic tonight, none of them seems to be getting sick.”  
“I hope you’re right,” Lauren smiled, worried.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh looked himself in the mirror, he was still unsure about his outfit. It was not like he was going out for a date, but he still wanted to look good. He was only going to observe his kids from far, like he had been doing in the last few days. They would be attending a soccer game from school and he’d be there, standing outside while the playboy played the role that should be his.  
 _Lucky bastard_. He thought.  
“Josh?” Kate appeared behind him, looking surprised. “Where are you going?”  
“I-I... I’m meeting a friend,” Josh lied.  
“What friend?” Kate asked, she had been suspicious her husband was hiding something from her. Victoria’s crazy theories were starting to affect her judgment.  
“Liam,” it was the first of his name that came to Josh’s mind. Not that he had many friends, anyways.   
“He’s traveling with his wife, you told me like three days ago.”  
Josh didn’t say anything, it’d make things worse. He just finished dressing and started to prepare to leave the house.  
“Who’s she?” Kate asked, angry. According to her experience as divorce lawyer and matchmaker, all signs pointed to that direction.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Josh replied getting his phone, wallet and car keys.  
“You have another woman. I know it. You could at least be a man and assume it.”  
“Bye, Kate,” he slammed the door.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam was sitting with Lauren, David and Serenity in the bleachers. The kids were starting to get inpatient because the game was 15 minutes late. David went after Lucas to ask what was wrong and Serenity complained all the time she was hungry, because Lauren burned her breakfast.  
His wife’s mood hadn’t changed, she so was anxious and pale as she was the night before. She looked very different from that Lauren from a few days earlier that was so excited for Lucas’ game, she even designed them the blue “#TeamLogan” t-shirts they were wearing. In their backs the shirt pointed their _positions_ in the _team_ , his, for example, said “Luke’s Dad”.   
“I’m going after David,” she announced. “He’s taking too long.”  
Even if Adam thought it was unnecessary he agreed with his wife, if that would make her feel comfortable again. After she left, Serenity turned to her father:  
“Daddy, I’m hungry. Can I buy some popcorn?”  
“Sure, princess,” he said, giving her money, “bring me some too.”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When Lauren entered to the locker room she didn’t mind Lucas turned red in embarassment, she needed to make sure all her kids were fine. David was sitting next to his older brother and they were chatting about the game.  
“It’s that guy’s father again,” Lucas explained. “He was making a fuss at the coach and the principal. He said somebody’s going to pay for the scholarship his son lost at the Soccer Academy.”  
“I filmed everything,” David laughed, showing his brother the camera.  
Lauren couldn’t care less about the man and his son. If it was one of her boys she’d consent to the punishment, they should start learning since early they were responsible for their mistakes and face the consequences. When Serenity used to punch the little boys on Kindergarten she made her apologize to each one of them.  
Somebody announced the game was about to begin. Lauren wished Lucas good luck, what made him blush even more. David followed her back to the bleachers. The first thing she noticed was that her daughter was no longer sitting next to her father.  
“Adam,” Lauren shouted, “where’s Serenity?”  
“She’s buying us some popcorn,” Adam replied, shocked by his wife’s reaction.  
“Where?!”  
“Right there,” he pointed to the cart. For his surprise his daughter wasn’t there like she was 10 seconds ago, when he got distracted by some other parent asking for information.   
Lauren started to cry as she ran to the cart. Adam went after her confused, her behavior was starting to scare him.   
“Hi, have you seen this girl?” Adam asked, showing the cart seller a picture of his daughter. Lauren couldn’t say a word, she couldn’t stop sobbing.  
The seller hadn’t seen any girls that matched Serenity’s description.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _I should grab some breakfast first_. Josh thought. He probably would have to wait until the game was over to take glimpse of his children. He turned on the car to leave but when he looked to his side he noticed something weird. Very weird. A tall and strong man wearing sun glasses was dragging a little girl to his car, he was covering her mouth to make sure she wouldn’t scream. He looked closer and realized it wasn’t any girl, it was his daughter, Serenity.  
The man left in a high speed, Josh followed him.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The security guards showed up immediately after hearing Lauren’s desperation. She knew something would happen, if only she had stayed in the bleachers. Or maybe she could’ve been more careful, Serenity wouldn’t be hungry if she hadn’t burn her breakfast.  
“Mrs. Logan?” one of the guards asked, interrupting her thoughts. ”You need to tell me in details, what is your daughter wearing?”  
“A blue shirt...” Lauren sobbed, “like mine. In her back it’s written _Luke’s sister_.”  
“We took a selfie right before she disappeared,” Adam showed his phone. “She was also wearing a cap.”  
“Right...” the guard wrote, “light brown hair,  green eyes, blue shirt... how tall is she?”  
“About 4’4’’,” Adam replied.  
“She’s probably hiding around the school,” the other guard said, trying to calm them.   
“She’s not!” Lauren yelled. “I know my daughter enough to know she wouldn’t do that.”  
Adam wrapped her arms around his wife. He was trying to show her some safety but inside he was so terrified as she was. He also knew Serenity wouldn’t pull this kind of prank on them.  
“Hey,” a man who was helping them came running, “is it the cap she was wearing?”  
Lauren confirmed.  
“We found it on the parking lot.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Serenity was in extreme fear. Tears started to roll from her eyes. Despite her young age she knew nothing good could come from that situation, that man looked evil. She looked through the windows, the high speed wouldn’t let her see where he was taking her. One thing she knew, she was far away from her parents.  
“Don’t worry, little girl,” the man smirked, “once your parents pay the ransom you’re free to go. If they can’t, well...” he laughed, “there’s a friend of mine that can make a good use of you.”  
Serenity felt even more scared. She knew her parents had money and so did her grandparents, but was that enough for the man?   
“If my son hadn’t been expelled from the team and lost his scholarship, you wouldn’t be here,” the man continued. “It was easy to identify you by this pathetic little shirt you’re wearing.”  
The young girl looked down to her shirt, imagining if her parents already had noticed she disappeared. She noticed something bothered her abductor.  
“Damn it!” The man yelled, “Who’s that car following me?”  
She couldn’t answer. Her mouth had been tapped.  
“Answer me!” He insisted. “Is that your father?”  
She shook her head in denial.  
The man useless tried to outrun the car behind them. When he noticed there was no escape, he stopped in the middle of some random and desert street. The other car stopped right behind them.  
“You stay quiet here,” the man said grabbing something in the glove compartment. “I’m gonna solve this quickly.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
At the Police Station, Lauren and Adam repeated everything they told to the school guards. In the end, everything indicated to abduction.  
“Is there anyone that could’ve been considered a suspect?”  
“No,” Lauren said.  
“Yes,” Adam disagreed. “Her biological father.”  
“You’re being ridiculous!” His wife shouted. “He always made very clear he didn’t want contact with his chidren.”  
“What’s his name?” The police chief asked.  
“Joshua Carter,” Adam answered, ignoring his wife. “He’s the husband of that famous matchmaker, Kate Fox.”  
“Do you have a picture?”  
Adam nodded in agreement while checking the internet on his phone for a clear picture of Josh.  
“For the last time,” Lauren cried. “He didn’t do that! You’ll be going after the wrong person and then it could be too late.”  
“Do you have any other suspects, Mrs. Logan?”  
“No.”  
“Then let’s go after this Joshua guy.”  
While the chief sent a team to Kate’s house, Lauren got her keys and headed to her car.  
“Where are you going?” Adam asked, grabbing her arm.  
“Let me go, Adam,” she said, angry. “You’re turning this into a personal revenge against Joshua. If you hadn’t left her alone none of this would’ve happened. Now let me go, I’m gonna find my daughter.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Serenity carefully left the car and removed the tape of her mouth, but she knew it was better to be quiet than scream, it’d attract the attention back to her. She decided to run but her feet wouldn’t leave the spot she was standing.   
She walked a few steps and watched her abductor punching the other man, the one who followed them, she assumed. This one attacked the man even harder, making him fall on the floor and kicking him repeatedly. It gave Serenity some hope she’d be saved.  
The man who followed them looked familiar, Serenity thought he looked nice and trustworthy. He immobilized her abductor on the floor and turned his attention to her.  
“Serenity?” He called. “Go to my car, quickly, and lock the doors. I’m gonna ask for help and we’re going home, ok?”  
She nodded yes. She slowly started to walk to the good man’s car.  
“Everything will be alright,” he continued. “I’m taking you back to your mom.”  
She stopped. Why couldn’t he simply enter the car too and drive away? That sounded better than waiting for the cops in the company of that criminal. What if it was all part of a plan and he was a bad guy too?  
“You can trust me, ok?” Josh noticed her confusion. “I won’t hurt you. I swear.”  
Trusting him was her only choice at the moment, she reached the cars door handle. She gave Josh one last look when she noticed the evil man was grinning and slipping his hand to his pocket.  
“Look out!” She yelled as the man pulled a knife to attack Josh.  
Without thinking twice she jumped in front of her savior.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Ms. Fox?”  
Kate opened her front door and faced 3 police officers.  
“Yes, what’s going on?”  
“Where’s your husband?” One of them asked, looking inside.  
“He left early this morning...” she replied, nervously. “I don’t know where he went.”  
“Did he ever mention this girl?”   
The officer showed her a picture of Serenity Logan.  
“No, I don’t think he even know her.”  
The officers exchanged looks. It was obvious Kate didn’t know her husband had children out of the wedlock.  
“You’ll probably want to have a conversation with your husband later, Ms. Fox,” the officer said. “Can we take a look in the house?”  
Kate agreed, wondering what trouble Josh was getting into.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“You fucking stabbed my daughter, your son of a bitch!” Josh yelled as he jumped on the man, punching him hard in the face, multiple times. “I’m going to kill you.”  
He grabbed the man’s neck, trying to strangle him.  
“Stop...” Serenity cried. “Please, help me.”  
The girl still tried to run and ask for help, she could see houses nearby, but the instense blood loss was making her dizzy and weak, she fell on the floor.  
 Josh imediately let the man go, he had snapped pictures of his license plate so the police wouldn’t have trouble finding him later. Serenity was his concern now.  
“Hey little girl,” he said, ripping off her shirt and exposing the wound on the left side of her abdomen. “Let me check this.”  
The man had pulled the knife off her body but Josh couldn’t determine how deep was the injury or how much damage it could’ve caused.   
Josh called an ambulance and followed the instructions, he placed Serenity on a sitting position on his lap and pressured the wound with a towel he had in the car. A couple of minutes later he noticed she was about to get unconscious.  
“Hey, look at me!” He asked. “You can’t fall asleep, ok?”  
“A-am I... going to die?” Serenity asked. A single tear dropped from her eyes.  
“Of course not!” Josh said, trying to look calm. “I’m not going to let that happen.”  
His hands were shaking. A lot of thoughts started to come to his mind, what was he going to tell Lauren? She’d never believe him, she’d probably think he caused that.   
“It’s getting cold.”  
Josh noticed her body temperature was dropping. He involved her with his jacket.  
“Serenity? You need to talk to me, ok?”  
The girl gave a positive sign with her head.  
“What’s your full name?”  
“Serenity... Zoe... Logan,” she answered.  
“Let me see...” Josh thought, “When it’s your birthday?”  
“September 16.”   
“Right... and... what is your favorite thing to do?”  
“Playing guitar... and to annoy my brother David...” Serenity started to sob, “but I-I only d-do that... because I l-love him.”   
Josh smiled, he felt happy to know she had something in common with him. Since her age he always liked music too.  
He heard the ambulance coming.  
“Hang in there, ok?” He asked, noticing her eyes were closing. “Everything will be ok.”   
“I-I want m-my... mom.”  
“I’m going to call her, what’s her number?”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren had no idea how she was even capable of driving to the hospital. When Joshua called her she answered because, coming from an unknown number, she believed it could be from the police. He told her Serenity was with him. In a hospital. He didn’t tell her what happened but he was crying. It should be bad.  
The first thing she did when she found him standing in the waiting room was to give him a violent slap across his cheek.  
“What did you do to my daughter, your bastard?!” She yelled.   
Lauren kept attacking him until he held her wrists and asked her to calm down. She glanced at Joshua’s shirt and noticed a considerably big stain of blood.  
“Oh my God... Is it...” she lost her balance, Josh held her. He placed her on a chair and offered her a cup of water.  
“Let me tell you what happened,” he said.  
Josh told Lauren everything, about how he had been watching his kids, the man who abducted Serenity and how she tried to save him from being stabbed.  
“How is she?” Lauren asked.  
“She was conscious but she lost a lot of blood.”  
“My baby...” she stared to sob again.  
“Excuse me,” a nurse interrupted them, “are you the parents of Serenity Logan?”  
“I’m her mother,” Lauren replied before Josh could say anything. She had the impression he’d say _yes_.  
“The doctors are running exams to check the extent of the wound,” the woman explained. “Also, she lost a high amount of blood and her type is low in our stock, are you able to donate?”    
“She has your blood type,” Lauren told Josh, “can you...”  
“Of course.”  
“You can come with me,” the nurse requested him.  
Before they leave Lauren called her back.  
“Is there any risk she could...” tears prevented her from finishing the question.  
“The area where she was hit is risky, especially if any major organs were damaged. The danger of septicemia is also high in this case.”  
Lauren felt like the world around her was spinning. The were chances her daughter, her baby girl, would die. She couldn’t even remember what was the last thing she told Serenity. Did she hug her that morning? She was probably too distracted. Last night she was so worried she didn’t put her to bed as usual so she also didn’t kiss her good night or told  how much she loved her. Now she wouldn’t have a chance of doing that again.  
Her vision started to get black and she felt a sharp pain in her chest.  
“Lauren!” Josh yelled as he prevented her from falling, unconscious. “Somebody help!”  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After he was done donating blood to Serenity, Josh sought for information about Lauren. She was doing fine, but the doctor told him it was better to keep her sedated for now. He went to his car and changed his bloody shirt, when he came back he was informed Serenity was also well, no organs or arteries were damaged. He asked if he could see her and he was taken to her room.  
“Hey, little pretty,” he said.  
“Hi,” Serenity replied, still weak and tired.  
“How are you feeling?”  
“It hurts... and I’m afraid!” she started to cry.  
Josh wiped the tears from her face.  
“Afraid of what?”  
“That man. What if he comes back?”  
“Don’t worry, ok? He’s going to jail, I promise.”  
Serenity smiled. Josh held her hand.  
“It’s gonna leave a nasty scar,” she whined.  
“But no one will see it, it’ll be under your clothes,” Josh showed her a scar he had on his forehead, “This one here, people ask all the time how I got it.”  
“And how was it?”  
“Playing with my best friend when I was around your age,” he smiled.  
“Where’s my mom?” Serenity asked.  
“She got very very desperate to know you were hurt so the doctors thought it was better to give her something to sleep.”  
“And my dad?”  
Josh felt his heart breaking. For a moment he had forgotten everything, he felt like she was **his**.  
“Uhhh... I’m gonna ask them to call him, he’ll be here soon.”  
Serenity smiled.  
“What’s your name?” She asked.  
“I’m Josh.”  
“Josh, why did you say I was your daughter when that man stabbed me?”  
If Lauren knew that she would have multiple heart attacks. He invented an excuse.  
“Er... it was the heat of the moment, you know? I have a little girl too and you reminds me of her.”  
“What’s her name?” Serenity wanted to know everything about the man who saved her life.  
“Hazel,” he said.  
“Hazel is a lucky girl,” she grinned. “You’re an awesome dad!”  
Josh smiled but inside he felt like crying. She had no idea of what he had done in the past, if it was for him she wouldn’t even had been born.  
“I’m sorry,” he muttered.  
“For what?”  
“Everything.”  
“It wasn’t your fault,” Serenity said assuming he talked about the incident.  
Josh stroked her soft hair, noticing how pretty she was. She was just identical to Lauren as child.   
“I’m sleepy,” she announced.  
“Then you should rest. I’m going home but your... father will be here when you wake up, ok?”  
Josh got up and walked to the door.  
“Bye Josh,” he heard the little girl saying. “See you soon!”  
“Bye little pretty,” he wasn’t so sure he’d see her again.  
Before leaving he decided to check on Lauren. She was sleeping peacefully.   
“I love you, pretty,” Josh whispered, pressing his lips on hers.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
At night, after going to the Police Department to clear up the facts about Serenity’s abduction, Josh arrived home and Kate expected him in the living room with a ton of questions.  
“Josh, where did you go?” She asked first. “You were out all day, you didn’t answer your phone...”  
He kept walking without saying a word.  
“Could you please tell me why the police is after you for Adam Logan’s daughter abduction?”  
He kept ignoring his wife.  
“Josh!” Kate shouted. “Please, talk to me!”  
“Kate,” he said calm and firmly, “we should get divorced.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: This fic was originally supposed to have 14 chapters only (there will be more now), what would make this chapter the middle of the story. This first half was about introducing Josh to the story, starting from chapter 8 things will change and I promise you’ll see more from the original show :)  
> Again, I apologize for any mistakes, I try my best to fix them before I post.


	8. Chapter 8

“Morning, gorgeous,” Adam whispered, with eyes still closed. He wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist, hoping she would turn around and they’d finally have a moment together after a long and good night of sleep.  
“Good morning, daddy!”  
“Daddy?”  
Adam opened his eyes to notice he was cuddling with his daughter, Serenity, not his wife.   
“Hey, what are you doing here?” He asked, already knowing the answer.  
Since her incident one month earlier, Serenity couldn’t sleep on her own. She had been sleeping in her parents’ bed for days and the night before she had promised to stay in her room. She was also afraid of leaving the house, so Lauren took a break from the company to be with her.  
“Sorry daddy,” the young girl lamented, “I couldn’t sleep in my bed.”    
“That’s ok,” Adam hugged her in comfort, “but it was the last time, right?”  
Serenity nodded yes. She wasn’t sure about it, sleeping with her parents made her feel safe, no one would get her in the middle of them.  
Adam checked the watch, it was already 11 a.m.   
“Lauren?” He called his wife. “It’s freaking late. We should get up, baby.”  
“I know, Adam,” she complained in a muffled voice from under her covers. “You slept like a rock, but I had to stay up until 6 a.m, wandering around the house with a baseball bat because Serenity was sure that man was here.”  
Serenity’s abductor was arrested right after the incident and had been in jail since then. With Josh’s deposition, along with her confirmation and the evidences against him, it was impossible he wouldn’t be condemned. In the girl’s head he’d escape at any moment and come to her to finish what he started.  
“You should rest a little longer,” Adam suggested, “I’ll check the boys and buy us something to eat.”  
“Thank you.”   
Lauren covered her head again, getting ready to sleep a little bit more.  
Adam started to get dressed when somebody rang the door bell.  
“No!” Lauren complained, pressing the pillow against her ears.  
“Are we expecting visitors?” Adam asked.  
“Not that I remember.”  
By the time Adam reached the front hall, Lucas had already opened the door.  
“Uncle Michael!” The boy greeted, hugging the man in front of him.  
“Oh my God!” Michael exclaimed. “I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been that long since I saw you for the last time... How did you get this tall?!”  
“Oh, hey Michael,” Adam said, “we didn’t know you were back yet.”  
“I arrived last night, I heard the news about Serenity and decided to drop by to see her.”  
Adam couldn’t say he and Michael were best friends like they were in college, but at least they were able to solve their personal issues after he was out of prison. He was grateful Michael stood by Lauren’s side and helped her during tough times. Lucas developed a great afection for him, seeing him as an uncle.  
Michael got married twice in the last 12 years. His first wife left him after three years of marriage for a man coincidentally named “Adam”. Two years later he married a recently graduated young woman, after less than five months together. All his friends advised him about how the age gap could be a problem and they were right, Michael caught her cheating with another woman. She claimed she was bored and willing to experiment new things. After months of depression and alcohol he decided to travel around Asia to find some peace.  
David and Serenity came running after Lucas announced Michael’s arrival. He brought them gifts from some countries he visited. Adam smiled to see Serenity was finally showing some excitement.  
“Hey Michael,” a moody Lauren came downstairs, “please don’t throw up anywhere.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I’m going to kill him,” Kate shouted, throwing away a magazine, which headline’s said _“Is Kate Fox taking a break from her matchmaker career? Find that and more about her divorce in this edition!”_  
It was true indeed. After Joshua left her she felt more like the divorce lawyer than the matchmaker. As bitter as it sounded, instead of helping people to get together she wanted to help them to get rid of their partners.  
Joshua went back to his mother’s house in San Francisco and she hadn’t heard from him since the day he announced their divorce.   
“Really,” she kept talking while pacing around her living room, “Now I don’t blame Lauren for trying to kill Adam when they were getting divorced. I know exactly how she felt now.”  
Victoria laughed. She was glad Kate’s marriage was over, they were finally friends again as they used to be. Kate even invited her to live with her in that huge residence for some time.  
“Kate, you’re better off without him,” she consoled her friend. “I was thinking, we should go out to have some fun, you know... maybe you can meet new people.”  
“No,” Kate disagreed, “men equal trouble, and I don’t want anymore trouble in my life.”  
Victoria’s cell phone started to ring. Lauren’s name appeared on the display making Kate roll her eyes.  
“What’s up, boss?” Victoria asked. “Hmmm... Of course! Tonight?”  
Kate threw herself on the couch in frustration. She desperately wanted her best friend with her all the time, it prevented her from falling apart over Joshua.  
Right after the incident, she called Lauren to ask what her husband had to do with Serenity’s abduction. Lauren told her Joshua happened to be in the wrong place, in the wrong time but in the end he saved her daughter’s life. It made Kate hate him a little bit less.   
“We’re going out tonight,” Victoria announced after hanging up the phone.  
“With the Lauren?” Kate asked. It wasn’t the first thing she had in mind.  
“They’ll be throwing a dinner for a few friends, they’re trying to cheer up Serenity a little bit. Lauren said you can bring your kids too.”  
Kate agreed, it couldn’t be that bad. Lauren was showing signs she had moved on from their past issues, she should do the same.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam questioned why Lauren decided to throw that dinner in first place. She told him it’d keep Serenity entertained, she’d chat, play, laugh. She’d also get tired and sleep at night, what made her husband quickly consent with the idea.  
“Hey,” Adam smiled as he watched his wife cooking, “I’m starting to think you have second intentions with this dinner.”  
“Me?!” she asked, playfully.  
“You’re trying to play the matchmaker for Michael and Kate.”  
“I kinda feel guilty for their break up in the past,” Lauren admited, “I’m sure he’d have been a better husband than... _you-know-who_.”  
Josh’s name was forbidden at their house.   
Lauren had the idea of the dinner not only for Serenity, but for she and Adam too. Their relationship was going downhill, a little distraction and fun around friends would make them some good.  
Adam freaked out when he found out Josh saved Serenity’s life not once, but twice that day. In the middle of her nightmares she’d always call for him. That caused Adam to be upset most of the time, leading to heated arguments between he and his wife.  
“What about Ethan, huh?” Adam inquired. “Are you trying to make my best friend settle down?”    
“Victoria is a nice girl,” Lauren replied.  
“I agree, they’d make a good match.”  
Adam smiled and kissed his wife. Lauren kissed him back, making it last as long as she could.  
“Finally,” she said after they finished, “it had been like... two weeks?”  
“I’m sorry, baby. I promise you I’m trying to forget about that guy.”  
They were about to kiss again when David showed up in the kitchen, interrupting them.  
“Ops,” he said, embarrassed.  
“What are you even doing here, little man?” Lauren asked. “You should be getting dressed.”   
“It’s Luke. He said he’ll stay in his room, pretending he doesn’t exist.”  
“Can you finish it?” Lauren asked her husband, “I’ll talk to him.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I still need to find out who she is,” Kate told Victoria while driving.  
“Kate, stop,” Victoria groaned. “We don’t even know if there’s a woman at all, we couldn’t find any evidence.”  
Kate was spending a long time in front of her computer, analyzing every detail of Josh’s social media. She also tried investigating his public records to check if he had been previously married like Victoria suggested, but nothing.  
“Then why was he in an Elementary School parking lot, huh?”  
That was when Victoria’s mind clicked. She remembered what Josh said on Adam’s birthday party _“If she gets a restraining order Kate will find out”_. Everything indicated he was talking about Lauren, and Lauren was also at that soccer game. Was it possible they were having an affair? She looked so faithful to Adam.  
“What are you thinking?” Kate asked.  
“Nothing,” Victoria lied.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Serenity’s abduction affected everybody else in the Logan’s family. Lucas felt somehow he was guilty for what happened to his sister. If his parents hadn’t found out he was being bullied things wouldn’t have gone this far. He kept himself isolated in his room most of the time, he couldn’t stand watching his little sister suffering or his parents fighting.  
“Hey Luke,” Lauren entered the room, “why aren’t you getting dressed yet, son?”  
The boy was laying on his bed, watching TV.  
“I’ll stay here in my room, mom,” he said.  
“I thought you missed your uncle Michael.”  
“Not as much as I miss our family from one month ago.”  
Lauren sat on the bed, next to him.   
“We’ve talked about it a million times, it’s not your fault.” she said. “And with this dinner we’re trying to get things back to normal, so please let’s go downstairs and have some fun?”  
In the end, Lucas agreed. When he opened his closet to get his clothes he found the shirt he was supposed to wear to celebrate his sucessful game, in the front it said _“#TeamLogan”_ and in the back, _“I’m Luke”_. The idea of how that day should’ve been hurt his feelings badly, he threw the shirt back in the box of things he would no longer wear.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Can you help him?” Lauren and Michael talked on the couch. “He listens to you.”  
“I’ll try,” Michael said, “but he’s not a little boy anymore, he has a mind on his own now.”  
“And he’s so stubborn as his father.”  
She glanced at Adam who was drinking and laughing with Ethan in the kitchen.   
“Who else did you invite?” Michael asked when the bell rang.  
“Surprise!” Lauren grinned, walking to the front door.  
Michael literally expected to see anybody entering that house, except for Kate Fox. At first it was very awkward to see her again after all those years but then she smiled and greeted him. His heart skipped a beat and he was sure that interrupted feeling was still somewhere inside him.  
“You invited Michael?” Victoria asked.  
“Don’t be so shocked,” Lauren laughed, “I still feel bad for separating them.”  
“Did you hear the news about Kate’s divorce?”  
“Who doesn’t?” Lauren lamented. “Maybe Michael could cheer her up a little bit.”  
“Yeah, maybe.” Victoria said, still bothered by the idea of her boss having an affair with her best friend’s husband.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Hi, Mrs. Fox,” Serenity said, sitting in the middle of Kate and Michael.  
He was comforting her about how to cope with this new part of her life. Kate listened everything carefully and joked about how Michael was the one giving her relationship advices now. Lauren watched everything nearby.  
“Hey sweetie,” Kate replied. “you can call me Kate only. How are you doing?”  
“I’m doing better, thanks. Is Josh your husband?”  
“Serenity!” Lauren interfered. “What did we...”  
“It’s alright,” Kate said. “He... we... yes, he is.”  
“Where’s him?” The young girl questioned. “I asked my mother to invite him too.”  
Michael noticed how uncomfortable Lauren looked. He was one of the few people that knew everything.  
“He’s traveling,” he interrupted, “Kate was just telling me, right?”  
Kate agreed, mentally thanking Michael for his excuse.  
Lauren noticed Victoria was looking her in a strange way, she wondered what she had done wrong. Anyways, she could apologize later, it was better to keep an eye on Serenity at the moment.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After the dinner was served everybody was having a good time. Even Adam was engaged in the conversation with Michael, Kate and Ethan. Victoria was still quiet, Lauren’s strange attitude when Joshua was mentioned made her even more suspicious about their possible affair. A ringtone interrupted them.  
“It’s mine,” Lauren announced, “I’ll answer, excuse me.”  
She walked outside, to the pool area. That unknown number wasn’t so unknown anymore, she already recognized it.  
“I think I was clear enough when I told you to stop calling me,” she said.  
 _“You could’ve ignored my call, pretty. But you didn’t.”_  
Lauren felt her blood burning in rage.  
“To tell you once more to leave me alone.”  
 _“I just want to know how Serenity is doing.”_  
“She’s great. Bye Josh.”  
 _“Wait a second. I’m coming back to LA, can I visit her on Monday?”_  
“No, you can’t.”  
 _“Can we just stop with this game, Lauren? I know you...”_  
She moved the phone away from her ear, refusing to listen what he was saying.  
“I’m blocking your number, ok? I respect your wife and your kids, so I’m asking to please respect mine.”  
Lauren hung up the phone, when she turned around Victoria was staring her.  
“Vic, hey,” she said nervously, “it’s uhh... this guy keeps mistaking my number with his ex’s and...”  
“Stop, Lauren.” Victoria confronted her. “I know what is going on here. I heard you and Josh talking during Adam’s party.”  
 _Damn it!_ Lauren thought. She didn’t expect anybody to know about her secret.  
“H-how much do you know?” She asked.  
“Everything,” Victoria answered.  
“Does Kate know?”   
Lauren had intentions of telling Kate about David and Serenity someday, if necessary. She didn’t want her to find out through somebody else.  
“She suspects.”  
“Vic, please, don’t tell her yet,” Lauren asked. “Only two people other than you know about it, if it comes public that could cause a lot of trouble for Adam and especially the kids.”  
“Oh my God! You should be ashamed of yourself!” Victoria walked away.  
She was. This was exactly how Lauren felt about getting involved with Joshua in the past.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam noticed his wife wasn’t present when the dessert was served, he looked for her around the house and found her in their bedroom, looking like she had just cried and fixed her make up.  
“Sit down here,” he asked, pointing to the bed. “What happened?”  
“I tell you later when our guests leave, ok?”  
“Is it about...”   
“Please, don’t mention him...” Lauren interrupted him with a kiss, “not right now...”  
She slipped her tongue inside Adam’s mouth, he returned every movement. Lauren slowly pushed him to lay on the bed and started to unbutton his shirt. She needed her husband desperately, he was the only one that could make those feelings go away.   
“What are you...” he gasped when she started to kiss his chest, “we have guests...”  
“Shhhh,” Lauren placed her index finger on his mouth, “they’ll not hear.”  
“But they will notice...” Adam gasped again, feeling her lips going down to his stomach, “we’re not there.”  
“Five minutes?” She asked.  
Adam thought for a second. They had no privacy since Serenity’s incident, he was crazy for some time alone with his wife, he couldn’t waste that moment.  
“Screw them. We’ll take as long as it needs.”  
He placed his hand on her neck bringing her face closer and kissing her again.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Your kids are adorable,” Michael complimented while watching Kate’s children playing with some toys. “They have a lot of you.”  
“Thank you,” Kate said. “I’m glad they do, even more now.”  
Michael laughed, being grateful he never had kids with any of his ex-wives. It should be a lot of trouble to their little minds.  
“It was good to meet you again,” Kate smiled.   
“Same,” Michael said, grabbing a card from his pocket, “here’s my number. If you need to talk, I’m here.”  
“Kate, we should go,” Victoria interrupted them.  
Kate pushed her aside.  
“You wanted me to have fun, here I am. Why do you wanna leave so soon? You’re looking weird.”  
“Kate, Michael could be a bad idea right now.”  
“Why?” Kate asked intrigued.  
“Let’s go outside,” Victoria suggested, “there’s something you should now.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“And you thought...” Adam took a breath, “five minutes would be enough?”  
“Not at all,” Lauren whispered in seductive way nibbling his ear. “We’re just getting started.”  
“Remember that thing we did during our trip to Lake Tahoe?”   
“Adam!” Lauren teased, slapping him in the arm, “You’re so naughty tonight.”  
They were interrupted by a knock on their door. It was Kate.  
“Lauren? I need to talk to you.”  
“This is getting repetitive,” Adam complained.  
“I know,” Lauren muttered. “Just a minute, Kate.”  
“I don’t have a minute,” Kate yelled. “It needs to be right now.”  
 Lauren got up from her bed, straightening out her dress and wearing her shoes.  
“I’ll need a minute to... you know...” Adam said, gesticulating, “ _cool off_.”  
“Sure.”  
When Lauren opened the door she had the impression Kate was about to jump on her throat. Victoria was right behind her.  
“So this is what this dinner is about, huh?” Kate started. “You hoped Michael and I would get together leaving Josh free to continue his affair with you.”  
“What?!” Lauren asked. “I wouldn’t have an affair with that man not even if he was the last person alive.”  
“Victoria told me everything, your conversation with him at the party, the phone call tonight...”  
“Is that what you told her?! That I’m having an affair with Joshua?!” Lauren directed to Victoria. “Jeez... I guess you didn’t hear our conversation at all.”  
“You confirmed it to me,” Victoria assured.  
“I wasn’t talking about it.”  
“Then what were you talking about, huh?” Kate argued. “Does Adam know? Because I’m sure you only got back with him to take advantage of the situation and take control of his company. You never loved him.”  
“Oh, you mean the company I tried to give back to him a few weeks ago and he insisted we should share the controllership? I never loved him? That’s ok Kate, if you want the truth, here’s the truth... I-I...”  
Lauren couldn’t pronounce the rest of the words. Her whole body trembled.  
“Mom, is everything alright?” David heard the argument. He passed through Victoria and Kate to stand in front of his mother, ready to protect her.  
“Yes, sweetie,” Lauren hugged her son. “Hey, why don’t you turn on the Playstation and play with Luke and Serenity? Your father and I will be there in minute.”  
The boy agreed and went downstairs.  
 _No way I’ll involve my children in this!_ Lauren thought.  
“You know what, Kate? I don’t owe you the truth, your husband does. Ask him.”  
“You can be sure I will!” Kate affirmed. “Let’s go, Victoria.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam was relieved to have his wife resting in his arms after that stressful end of their dinner. They were watching the kids playing video games together but all he had in mind was to finish what he and Lauren had started in their room earlier.  
“It’s getting late, don’t you think?” He asked.  
“You’re right, babe,” Lauren agreed. “Bed time, kids. Uh and... each one in your own room tonight.”  
After some complaints the kids turned off the video game and followed their parents upstairs.  
“Finally alone,” Adam smiled as he shut the door. “Are you ok?”  
“Yeah, do you think I’ll let Kate ruin our night?”  
They just started to make out when they were interrupted by Serenity calling them to her room. The girl wasn’t getting any better with her trauma, maybe it was time to seek professional help.  
“I heard a noise,” she cried. “I’m not sleeping here alone.”  
“That guy is in jail, baby girl,” Adam assured her. “and he’s not coming out anytime soon.”  
“What if he escapes?”   
“He won’t, but dad is here to protect you and so is mom.”  
“You know what would make me feel safe?” Serenity asked. “Talk to Josh again, he saved me that day, I need to know he’ll be here again if I need him.”  
A very pissed off Adam left the room, slamming the door. Lauren went after him immediately.  
“Adam, I know it upsets you but could you please try to control yourself, in front of her at least?”  
“No, I can’t,” Adam shouted. “I’ve had enough, you know? I suddently became the stepfather, she only trusts her _“daddy”_ to protect her.”  
“For God’s sake, she’s eight years old and went through the most traumatizing experience of her life,” Lauren argued. “Wanting it or not, he saved her life, it’s natural she’s seeing him as a hero.”  
“Maybe Kate is right,” Adam gave a sarcastic laugh, “you’re trying to pair her with Michael to push her out of the way for you.”  
“I’ll ignore your insult for our marriage’s sake. All I ask is for you to treat our daughter better, she has no idea of what happened in the past.”  
Lauren grabbed her pillow and went to Serenity’s room, leaving Adam alone. She accommodated herself in the bed with her daughter, cuddling with her.  
“Mommy? I swear today is the last time I say it’s the last time.”  
“It’s alright, baby, I’ll stay with you as long as you need.”  
“But daddy is mad at me.”  
“He’s not, ok? He needs some rest, we had a long day.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh was furious after visiting Kate at her father’s lawfirm. How dared Victoria to suggest he was having an affair with Lauren? He knew she had an obsession with him but not at the point of watching his moves. Due to that, Kate threatened he’d never see Bradley and Hazel again until he told her the truth. He wouldn’t tell her, not now, he needed to talk to Lauren first. From Kate’s office he went to Mother Earth’s floor, looking for her. He was bringing a little gift he bought Serenity.   
The office’s door was half-open, he noticed Adam and Victoria were talking.  
“You don’t have to quit you job, Vic. Just talk to her, she’ll understand.”  
“Adam, if there’s one thing we know about your wife is that she’s... like she says, _passionate_?”  
“She’s way better now than she was in the past, believe me. She knows it was a misunderstanding.”  
“I don’t know.”  
Josh knocked the door. Adam opened it.  
“What the hell are you doing here?” He asked.  
“I-I... Look man, I know I screwed up in the past and I don’t intend to steal your children or anything... Err could you just give this gift to Serenity?”  
“No, I can’t,” Adam shouted. “She has a father who can buy her something better than this shit. Now get out of my office or I’ll _screw up_ with your life.”  
“I came in peace, you know? But you asked for it, I’ll make you pay for that.”  
“Bring it on, loser,” Adam taunted. “I’m not scared.”   
As he left, Josh glanced at Victoria sitting on the couch inside Adam’s office.  
 _Both of you will pay for that._ He thought.


	9. Chapter 9

“David didn’t install anything weird on my computer?” Adam asked while getting some food from the take out box.  
Victoria shook her head in denial, unable to answer because of her full mouth.  
“And Lucas didn’t mess up my drawers?”  
“Nope.”  
“What about Serenity? No crying or freaking out?”  
“No, she spent the whole time quiet, playing with the iPad you gave her.”  
Adam took a relieved breath.  
“Seriously, I don’t know what I’d have done without you, Vic. Thank you for coming here, even if you decided to quit your job.”  
“No problem. You know how much I enjoyed working here and... God, I’m gonna miss those three.”  
“I already told you. You don’t have to do this.”  
“Hmmm I don’t know... Is Lauren coming home today?”  
“I guess so.”  
Adam looked away trying to hide his frustration, he and Lauren were barely talking to each other. Everytime they tried, things would get worse.  
Lauren had been in San Francisco for a week, problems with her family, she told him. Adam chose to stay, the company had important commitments at the moment. Deciding his wife needed some rest, he told her to let their children under his care. She still called him everyday, but their conversation was limited to inform her how the kids were doing.  
“They’re too quiet, don’t you think?” Victoria, noticing Adam’s distress, decided it was better not ask anything else, “I’ll check them.”  
She got up from the chair and walked to the room next to Adam’s office, where the kids were.  
Adam’s phone started to ring.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Please, let me play,” David begged.   
“No, I’m busy here,” Serenity said. “Can’t you see?”  
She moved her eyes back to the screen and typed:  
 _My brother is bothering me. I need to go._  
 _Shhhh! No one can find out we’re chatting ;)_  
Closing the chat screen, she handed David the iPad.  
“Done,” she angered, “you’re such a pain in the ass.”  
David stuck his tongue out at her and smiled, going back to his Minecraft game.  
“Hey,” Victoria opened the door, “what are you guys up to?”  
Lucas was spread on the couch, with his headphones on, not listening a thing.  
“I was... errr... reading,” Serenity lied. “But David interrupted me!”  
“Liar, I bet you were stalking that Disney guy again,” David teased, “he’s sooo ugly!”  
“Shut up! You’re ugly, not him.”  
David laughed and Victoria interrupted their discussion before he could provoke his sister again.  
“Your father was finishing eating, he said you can go home after.”  
“Great!” David celebrated. He hated when they had to spend the day at their parents’ office, he got bored too easily.  
“Is my mom coming home today?” Serenity asked.  
“I don’t know,” Victoria replied, “your father was waiting for her phone call.”  
“I’m going there to check.”  
Serenity left the room, leaving Victoria alone with the boys.  
“Come closer, Vic,” David asked, “I’ll show you the awesome castle I’m building.”  
 _These damn blocks again._ Victoria thought.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“So you’re not coming home today?” Adam asked. “What about the meeting tonight? The one with Mr. Zane?”  
 _“You can go alone, Adam,”_ Lauren replied on the other side of the line, _“you were the one dealing with him all along.”_   
“Yeah, I know,” Adam still felt insecure about the company without his wife being around.  
 _“What are you doing?”_  
“I’m having lunch, after that I’ll take the kids home and prepare myself for the meeting.”  
 _“Hmm... Are you having lunch by yourself?”_  
Adam knew she wanted to know if there was a woman with him. He knew she trusted Victoria but not at the point of letting her spend time alone with him.  
“Yes,” he lied, “the kids have finished and are waiting in the resting room.”  
 _“I need to go now, I’ll see if they have information on my flight. Bye.”_   
“Bye,” Adam started, “I l...” Lauren ended the phone call before he finished his sentence.  
He threw the phone on his desk in frustration.  
“Dad, were talking to mom?” Serenity asked, entering the office.  
“Oh... yes, princess, I was,” he replied, calming himself down. “She may not be coming home today.”  
“Why?”  
“Her flight is delayed,” Adam noticed the news upset his daughter. “But we can do something fun after my meeting. I promise.”  
“Will it take too long?”   
“No, I’ll be home as soon as I can.”  
“Who will stay with us?”  
Victoria came back to Adam’s office, still dazed by David’s crazy explanations about his game.  
“Uhhh... Vic?” Adam asked in a suggestive manner. “Could you do us another little favor?”  
“What that would be?” Victoria questioned.  
“Would you babysit for me tonight? Lauren’s flight is delayed and she won’t be home in time for my meeting.”  
“Actually, I... can I talk to you in private?”  
Adam asked Serenity to call her brothers to go home. As she left the room, Victoria explained:  
“I can’t do this tonight,” she started, a little embarrassed, “I... I have a date with this guy I met online.”  
“Oh!” Adam exclaimed. “That’s ok, I can find someone else but... you’ve never seen him in person before?”  
“I know it’s kinda crazy and dangerous but... He’s cute, we have a lot in common and he’s coming from Phoenix only to see me, can you believe that?”  
“Well, just... take care of yourself, ok?” Adam advised. “And if you need anything you can call me.”  
“Oh sure.”  
  After Adam left the company followed by his children, he sat in the car wondering who else could be his babysitter. It reminded him of someone who owed him a little favor.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _Delayed until further notice._ That was the information given to Lauren. She sat at the airport’s cafeteria and asked for some coffee. While drinking, she mentally cursed herself for coming to his trip in first place. The “family emergency” was only her little brother asking for advice to start a new business and of course, money.  
Lauren wasn’t very attached to her family, her parents spent most of their time working and never gave her much affection, differently from the treatment her younger brother received. He was spoiled and overprotected. That was the main reason why she spent so much time with Josh and his mother during her childhood and teenage years.  
She looked at her phone, reading for the thousand time the text he sent her a few days earlier asking to meet her. Part of her wanted to accept, as revenge for Adam’s behavior, but instead, she pressed the delete button.  
“Hi, I’d like some tea, please.”  
That voice sounded familiar, she turned her head to find Kate.  
 _You gotta be kidding me._ She thought.  
Lauren grabbed her wallet, she still could pay for her coffee and get out of there without being seen. Too late, Kate had already noticed her presence and was coming in her direction.  
“Lauren, hi.” Kate greeted with some embarrassment.  
“Oh... Hi Kate,” Lauren quickly got up, leaving the payment on her table. “I really have to go, I’m late. Bye.”  
She walked a few steps and heard Kate saying:  
“The flight is delayed. Please, let me talk to you.”  
“Ok.”  
Lauren went back to the cafeteria and sat on the chair Kate pointed her. After a moment of silence, Kate finally spoke.  
“I want to apologize for that day in your house.”  
“Apologies accepted,” Lauren replied, wishing that woman would just go away.  
“But you need to understand my position. It isn’t just about me, but about my children too. Josh is their father.”  
“I understand, Kate. I’m a mother too, this is why I’d never get involved with a married man.”  
Kate took a breath before proceeding.  
“So why was he in that school game? And why did you threatened to get a restraining order against him?”  
Lauren felt like she was in court. _Where’s the judge?_ She thought.  
“We used to be really close in the past...”  
“How close?” Kate interrupted. “I need to know.”  
“Friends... with benefits. Then after I married Adam we kinda grew apart, a few years later we had this fight and I didn’t want to see him again.”   
“It’s not enough,” Kate shouted. “I need the whole truth.”  
Lauren was getting tired of that, and without being able to control her mouth anymore she just spilled:  
“He’s the father of two of my children.”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Michael, please,” Adam begged. “I saved your ass when you were drunk and trying to assault Kayla’s girlfriend car with a crowbar.”  
It was the perfect plan, he invited Michael to come to his house for a drink and blackmailed him. There was no way he’d get away.  
“Can you not mention that?” Michael felt ashamed of himself. “Ok, I’m already here but... you won’t take long, will you?”  
“I don’t expect so, I don’t want you to be here alone when my wife gets home.”  
Adam laughed and went upstairs, when he passed through Serenity’s room he noticed her unhappy face.  
“What’s up, baby girl?”  
He sat next to her on the bed.  
“I don’t want you to go,” she protested.  
“But I have to, it’s very important.”  
“Can’t you just meet them in your office tomorrow?”  
“I’d rather too, but he picked the place. I couldn’t say no.”  
The girl had a crying face.  
“Hey, Michael is going to be here with you. You don’t need to be afraid.”  
“Dad, please. Do you think **he** will protect us in case...”  
She started to cry and Adam embraced her. David entered the room.  
“What’s wrong, sis?”  
“Here’s my man,” Adam said. “I have a mission for you, buddy.”  
“I’m listening.”  
“You’re the captain while I’m out, it’s your mission to protect our princess. Are you in?”  
“Hell yeah!”  
“You’re in good hands,” he told Serenity, making her smile. “Don’t worry kids, I’ll be home in time for some pizza and guess what? I’ll buy us a new game.”  
“Can I pick this time?” David asked, excited.  
“If you’re a good captain.”  
“Dad?!” Serenity suddently looked thrilled. “Can I invite Josh?”  
“I-I... errr...” Adam tried to control himself, that name made his body burn in rage. “We don’t have his number, baby girl.”  
“Mommy does, I’ve seen her talking to him a couple of times.”  
“I’ll see what I can do.”  
Adam locked himself in his bedroom and then went to the shower. While the water fell on his body he lost himself in his thoughts. What if Lauren went to San Francisco to meet him? What if they were really having an affair? He was spending too much time away from her lately and the arguments were getting frequent. He often accused her of having feelings for Joshua and pushed her away everytime she tried to make peace. If he was losing her, he was the only one to blame.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I had no idea,” Kate looked surprised when Lauren finished telling her everything. “I’m sorry that he...”  
“It’s ok,” Lauren interrupted, “they have the best father someone could ask for.”  
“But are you sure they’re his and not Adam’s?”  
“Yes, Adam was in jail when I got pregnant.”  
Kate was in silence for a minute, there was a missing piece in that puzzle.  
“Weird...”  
“What?”  
“Nevermind, I’ll ask him later.”  
Lauren looked at her watch, it was 6 p.m. and not a single evidence that she’d be able to fly home soon.  
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Kate kept the conversation about Josh going, “he’s not exactly what I expected as a father.”  
Lauren turned her attention to her, not very interested.  
“He’ll rarely show affection for the kids and when he needs to be alone with them... it disturbs him, like if he was afraid.”  
It quickly reminded Lauren of Josh’s behavior when he met David and when he knew she was pregnant for the second time.  
Kate noticed the subject started to bother Lauren a little bit so she decided to stop. The two of them just remained quiet for some time.  
“I’m sorry about the Michael thing the other day,” Lauren finally apologized, “I shouldn’t have forced that situation.”  
“No problem,” Kate smiled, “I even enjoyed it.”  
“Good, I guess he did too. He wouldn’t stop talking about it.”  
“He called me,” Kate told, “but I had to come to San Francisco to get these papers for my father.”  
“Oh, really?” Lauren questioned. “Let’s have another coffee while you tell me more about it.”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam waited at the hotel’s lounge. There was still no sign of Mr. Zane. At the reception he was informed the man left a note saying he was going to be late.   
He grabbed the phone in his pocket and dialed Lauren’s number, it went straight to the voicemail. Then he followed to the bar and while he ran his eyes through the menu he pondered if alcohol could be a good idea at the moment. The idea of messing up that business deal made him decide to keep himself sober.  
“Adam?!” He heard a familiar voice calling. “What are you doing here?”  
It was Victoria, she was wearing a sexy black dress and a sweet fragrance that made most of the men in the lounge look at her.  
“Oh, hey you,” Adam said, also noticing her outfit. “My bussiness meeting... it’s here in the hotel.”  
“Really? And so is my date.”  
Adam thought about complimenting her but he was afraid to sound inappropriate.  
“Huhh... why don’t we take a sit? There’s something I wanna tell you.”  
Victoria sat right next to him in a table where he began to tell her about Josh. He needed to open up to someone.  
“What a bastard!” She shouted. “Oh my God, so this is why Lauren wanted to get a restraining order against him.”  
Adam nodded yes.  
“And I heard everything wrong and put her in that situation with Kate... Shit, I feel terrible.”  
“It’s not your fault,” Adam consoled her, “anyone in your place would think there was something going on.”  
“I need to apologize to her urgently.”  
A waiter interrupted them, he was bringing a bottle of the most sophisticated whiskey.  
“Mr. Logan? Courtesy of Mr. Zane, for making you wait so long.”  
“Thank you, but I...” The whole conversation about Josh made Adam change his mind. “Well, one glass won’t kill.”  
 The phone buzzed inside Victoria’s purse, she checked and an expression of discontentment appeared in her face.  
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked.  
“He’s not coming,” she told, disappointed.  
Adam raised his hand, calling the waiter back.  
“A glass to the lady, please.”  
“One glass won’t kill, right?” Victoria smiled.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Oh my God!” Lucas shouted. “You play it worse than my mom!”  
“Hey, I’m still learning, ok?” Michael excused while he randomly pressed some buttons on the joystick, “How did you say that I... Damn it!”  
“I won it again!”  
The boy threw the joystick on the couch and danced around the living room celebrating.  
“Maybe we should take a break,” Michael suggested.  
“Tired of losing?” Lucas teased.  
“I wanna talk to you, know how you’ve been doing, you know?”  
“I’m fine.”  
“How’s the soccer?” Michael questioned, knowing the answer.  
“I won’t play it anymore.”  
“Why? You were good at it.”  
“Not really, I only played it to have something to bond with my dad.”  
Except for his physical appearence, Lucas had little in common with Adam. He also found difficult to have the same connection his siblings had with their father, he was more linked to his mother. He hated sports but since it was one of his father’s favorite interests, he decided to join the soccer team.  
“It’s not your fault what happened to your sister,” Michael advised. “Your parents did what was right reporting those boys for bullying you.”  
“Don’t you understand?” Lucas angered. “Joining the team was a mistake in first place, it wasn’t for me.”  
“Know what wasn’t for you? Bullying. You’re a good kid, you didn’t deserve that. No one does, if nothing was done they’d keep bullying you and other kids in the future.”  
“I just... I don’t wanna play it anymore. Everytime I look at the field I’ll remember that day.”  
“Ok, so let’s find something else for you to do,” Michael suggested. “What do you like?”  
They were interrupted by Serenity’s cry coming from her bedroom. Michael rushed upstairs to find out what was going on.  
“Where’s my dad?” She sobbed. “He said he’d be home soon, something must’ve happened!”   
“Hey,” Michael embraced her, “these meetings sometimes take longer than expected.”  
“My dad never lied to me! If he said he’d be home soon is because he knew.”  
“I’ll try to call him.”  
Michael grabbed his phone and dialed Adam’s number, praying he wouldn’t disturb his business negotiations. It went directly to the voicemail.  
“His phone is off,” Michael tried to calm her down, “See? He must be busy.”  
“Or dead!”   
The girl started to cry even more.  
“Why don’t we wait a few more minutes, huh? I’m sure he’s alright.”  
Serenity pretended to agree.  
“Come play with us,” Lucas suggested, trying to make his sister feel better.  
“No, I’ll stay here. My head hurts.”  
“Ok.”  
When she was finally alone, she turned on the iPad and typed:  
 _Josh? Are you there?_  
 _I need your help._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“I confess, I was in love with him.” Victoria took another sip of her glass, “But love, love isn’t for me... I’ll never get married, I’ll become the crazy cat lady my aunt Shelly always told me about.”  
Noticing her glass was empty she filled it again.  
“Will thizzz guy evah shhow up?” Adam looked at his watch, Victoria noticed he was drunker than she was. “You.” He pointed at her. “Don’t worry, yourr not mizzzssing anything. You dunn wanna get mahrried and have summbody breathing down yourr neck all the time, do you?”  
“Nah! I’m happy the way I am. You know? The most important is to feel free and confident about yourself, this is the true happiness. Love is just a chemical reaction of your brain to make you feel stupid. Did you know our brains...”  
Victoria was the kind of drunk who liked giving motivational speeches or tell random facts she learned from useless TV programs and magazines, she’d never remember to use them if she was sober.  
“I luv mah wifey,” Adam continued, ignoring the information about the brain, “but shezz a pain in the azz sumtimes. She even hazzz mah fazzzebook passssword.”  
“You should change it,” Victoria suggested. “I watched a documentary about online safety, it said your password must be long, a combination between numbers, letters and... what else?”  
“I’ll chhandge to... Adam050473... shell nevah find out.”  
Noticing the whiskey bottle was empty, Adam asked for another drink. That was when a new level of drunkenness started to reach and his eyes filled with tears.  
“She hazz been calling him, did ya know? Szzerenity told meh.”  
“That sucks, man,” Victoria shook her head in disbelief. “You should talk to her, trust is the base for a healthy and strong marriage.”  
Adam didn’t listen. He was not feeling well, his head was spinning and he started to sweat.  
“Isss it meh or its getting too hot in here?”   
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
It was around midnight when Lauren finally arrived in Los Angeles, spending the day with Kate wasn’t so bad in the end. They had some good conversations and found out they had a few things in common. Lauren was starting to see her less like an enemy or a rival.  
Once she was inside the cab, she turned on her phone to call home. The 27 missed calls that popped on her screen scared her. The numbers came from home, Michael and Josh. That only could mean something was wrong with Serenity. She returned the first call on the top of the list, without even noticing who was she calling.  
 _“Lauren, finally!”_ Josh picked on the other side of the line. _“I’ve been trying to call you for at least 2 hours.”_  
“What is going on?” She asked.  
 _“That playboy, he isn’t back home yet and Serenity is scared as hell.”_  
“Wait, is she alone for all this time?”  
 _“No, the asshole is taking care of them.”_  
“Who’s the asshole? Stop nicknaming people for God’s sake!”  
 _“Michael Mendelson. He’s not able to keep a woman, do you think he’d be able to take care of children?”_  
“Says the father of the year. Where’s Adam?”  
 _“This is what we’re trying to figure out. He was supposed to be back from the meeting already.”_  
“Did they try to call him?”  
 _“Multiple times. Are you sure it’s really a business meeting?”_  
“Yes, I was supposed to go with him. I got to go now, I’m going to the hotel he is. Bye.”  
She hung up before he could say anything else. After asking the driver to change directions and go to the hotel, she called Michael and asked him to tell Serenity she’d be home soon. The girl stopped crying but she still wanted to know about her dad, and so did Lauren.  
At the hotel’s reception, she sought for information.  
“Hi, is Adam Logan here? He was supposed to meet a man named Abel Zane.”  
The receptionist checked on the computer.  
“Mr. Zane checked out about an hour ago,” he informed. “Mr. Logan’s room number is 304.”  
 _Why did he get a room?_ Lauren wondered. She convinced the receptionist to give her the extra key card by proving she was Adam’s wife and lying that he was waiting for her.  
She entered the elevator and pressed the floor’s button. She had no idea what was going on. Was Adam hiding something from her? All he had told her was about the business meeting with Mr. Zane, nothing more.  
The elevator stopped, almost like her heart as she walked the first step in the direction of that room. She stopped in front of the door, without knowing how to proceed. First she knocked, no answer. Then, she finally unlocked the door.   
Lauren always imagined that scene in her moments of paranoia and jealousy. It always haunted her nightmares too. Now it was actually happening, right in front of her eyes, she froze. All the scandal and violence she promised herself she would make were replaced by silence and inability to move.  
She just watched Adam, her Adam, naked in bed with his arms wrapped around Victoria’s body. Tears started to roll from her eyes.  
“Adam,” she finally called.  
Her husband slowly opened his eyes, confused and lost. His head throbbed in pain.  
“Lauren?” He asked. “What the...” He took a look around and realized what was going on.  
Lauren, sobbing intensely, started to walk away.  
“Hey, this is not what you’re thinking,” Adam tried to explain, “I’d never...”  
In the exact moment he got up from the bed, covering his body with sheets, an used condom fell on the floor. Lauren stared at it for a few seconds before running away.  The slam of the door made Victoria wake up and jump out of the bed.  
“W-what the hell happened here?” She asked, in panic.   
“I just... I have no idea,” Adam replied.  
He sat on the bed, taking his hands to his face. What had he done? Would Lauren be able to forgive him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I apologize if the drunk talk part was too confusing or hard to understand. It's the first time I write something like this.
> 
> 2: Please don't hate me yet XD


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Disclaimer: I do not own the signalized dialogue. It was taken from Episode 16 - Forgive and Forget. All the rights belong to FOX Studios.

Adam opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling in the darkness. Flashes of the night before started to pop up in his mind. A horrible taste of vomit came to his mouth, he tried to get up but his body had no strenght. A little effort and he was able to sit, leaning his back against the headboard.  
“Lauren,” he called, his voice was weak.  
He noticed it wasn’t his bedroom, actually he had no idea where he was.  
“Thank God, I was about to call the doctor again,” Victoria said, entering the room.  
“Lauren. I need to see her.”  
“Not now, Adam. You’re not okay.”  
“W-what happened?” He asked, confused, “Where am I?”  
“We were drugged,” Victoria told. “Remember Mr. Zane’s whiskey? It was spiked.”  
Adam started to remember, he was getting dressed to go after his wife when he suddently collapsed. Victoria called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital where the doctor performed some exams, this was probably how Victoria found out they were drugged.  
“Are you alright?”  
“Yes, you drank way more than I did of that whiskey so I had no major side effects.”  
His mind clicked.  
“So it’s possible we didn’t...”  
“Maybe.”  
The bedroom’s door opened again, this time was Michael bringing Adam some food.  
“Hey man, I thought you’d like something to eat when you woke up.”  
“Thanks, Michael. Where am I?”  
“My apartment, you can stay here until...”  
“I’m pretty sure that once I explain everything, Lauren will believe me.”  
Michael and Victoria exchanged glances.  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
                                                                  ˜*˜*˜* One week later ˜*˜*˜*

  
Lauren took a deep breath as she parked her car at the grocery store.  
It had been a week since she and Adam split up. The kids didn’t know the truth yet, she told them their father had to travel to London to finish a deal he was closing. Lucas, being the most naive of the three, believed it blindly. Serenity was still affected by her incident, so she didn’t even realize what was really going on. She spent most of the time on her iPad. And there was David. Lauren could swear that kid could read her mind. For days he was acting suspicious, she had no doubt he was investigating.  
She looked at her left hand, the wedding band was still there, like it had been for the last 9 years when they renewed their vows. She felt she was about to cry but she couldn’t, the kids would notice when she was back home. She slowly slipped the ring out of her finger, ready or not she’d need to get used to that. She’d wear it back before entering home anyways.  
Inside the store she started to grab the items from her list, that was when she automatically grabbed it, Adam’s favorite cereal. She placed the box back in the shelf, feeling a lump in her throat as she thought that item was no longer needed at her house.  
Lauren start to walk to the checkout stand proud of herself, she didn’t cry. It was her first time alone in public and she was successful. She smiled. Then she saw _their_ chocolate bar. Adam gave her that same chocolate right after they met, when she helped him to study for a test while waiting for Michael at their dorm. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down and walked away.  
“Hey, pretty!” Right behind her, she heard that unwanted voice.  
“Hello, Josh,” she said, turning around, “tell me you’re not stalking me.”  
“Of course not, I came here to buy some beer,” this time he was really telling the truth.  
Lauren quickly hid her hand on her jeans’ pocket, she couldn’t let him see that she was single. Then she remembered she looked like a mess, her clothes, her hair, her face, that was enough for him and everybody else to notice something had changed in her life. To worse.  
“How’s Serenity?” He asked.  
“She’s fine.”  
“I bought her a gift, I took it to your office and asked your husband if he could give it to her but he treated me like crap.”  
_What did you expect?_ Lauren thought.  
“He was too entertained with his assistant... that Victoria woman. I really don’t like her.”  
Lauren cringed.  
“I’m so stupid...” she said to herself. How didn’t she notice it earlier?  
“Everything alright?” Josh asked.  
Lauren nodded in agreement and in a sudden impulse, she suggested:  
“Maybe you should drop by some time, you know... To give Serenity the gift.”  
She also got her hand out of her pocket, making it visible she had no ring on her third finger.  
“I’d love to,” Josh grinned, fixing his eyes on her hand.  
“Tomorrow night?” Lauren asked.  
“Of course, but are you sure there’s _no problem_?” No Adam, he meant.  
“Not at all,” Lauren smiled.  
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After crying for a while during her morning shower, Lauren got dressed and got outside to check the mail box, thing she had forgotten to do since Adam left. He was the one who got the mail everyday. For her surprise there was a small package inside with the bills and junk, she prayed it was nothing her husband had ordered or she’d have to see him sooner than she planned. No, it was addressed to her.  
Lauren took the package to the living room and placed it on the coffee table. Opening it carefully, she found a picture of Adam and Victoria dated February, 2004, on the back side was a message: _“they used to date before”_. She felt her stomach twisting. Along the picture was a CD, without knowing what could be seen, Lauren took it to her bedroom to play on her laptop.  
She closed her eyes for a moment after clicking the play button. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see whatever was on her screen. She slowly started to look. It was a video of Victoria, Michael and Adam playing bowling, when Kate was about to play Adam’s voice could be heard in the background:  
_“I think the battery died.”_  
 _“Aw!” Kate shouted, “Right on my turn?”_  
 _Adam placed the camera he supposed to be turned off on their table. After Kate played they engaged in a conversation:_  
 _ ***** “I’m afraid you do suck after all,” Adam teased._  
 _“I’m having an awful night. I think Lauren put some kind of curse on me today.”_  
 _“It’s 45 minutes without talking about Lauren,” Michael joked. “It’s a new record.”_  
 _“When my DNA test come back negative, I pledge to maintain a Lauren-free existence for all eternity.”_  
 _“So, who do you think the father is?” Kate asked._  
 _“Knowing Lauren,” Adam laughed, “could be one of the San Francisco 49ers!”_  
 _He and Victoria high fived. *****_  
The video was cut. Lauren replayed the last part of the video over and over again. How dared Adam to talk that way about her and especially, their child? That was so disrespectful and cruel, what made her hate him even more.  
Tears started to roll from her eyes, she was about to call Adam when David interrupted her.  
“Good morning, mom,” he said entering her room.  
“Oh, good morning buddy,” she quickly wiped her tears, “I’m gonna prepare the breakfast, ok?”  
The young boy jumped on the bed, sitting next to her.  
“You guys should try counseling,” David suggested, “it worked for my friend’s parents.”  
“W-what?!” Lauren asked in disbelief.  
“You’re not a good liar, mom. You and dad are getting divorced.”  
“I-I don’t know where it came from,” she still tried to lie, “your father is in London.”  
“For over a week?” David raised his eyebrow. “He’s in LA, I called the office the other day and he answered.”  
Lauren realized there was no escape, the kid was smart, very smart, he wouldn’t believe anything else she invented. Sometimes she couldn’t believe there was traces of Josh’s DNA in that brain.  
“David... I... Errr... can you keep your mouth shut to your siblings? At least for a few more days?”  
“That’s ok, mom,” the boy agreed. “I won’t tell them.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
It was 1 p.m when Michael called Victoria to come at his apartment. He was pretty sure Adam was dead, or at least in coma. He tried to call Lauren first, but she wouldn’t answer. His friend was in a really bad place, he wouldn’t go to work, he spent most of the time like a zombie in front of the TV and in the last few days, he had started to drink to forget his sorrow.  
“Come on!” she said as she sniffed him, “He’s only drunk, very drunk.”  
“We gotta do something, you know once he tried...” Michael started.  
“Time to wake up, party boy!” Victoria yelled on Adam’s left ear.  
“Maybe you should try the other one,” Michael suggested, “he’s deaf in this one.”  
“There’s no need,” Adam muttered, “my head hurts enough, thank you.”  
He sat down on the couch, wearing his pajamas. His hair was a mess and a scruff was starting to show.  
“Adam, we have no time for this,” Victoria scolded. “Do you want your wife back or not?”  
_More than anything._ He thought, being unable to answer. He felt dizzy and tired.  
“Did you call the lab?” Victoria insisted.  
“I don’t feel like playing _CSI: Los Angeles_ right now, sorry.”  
Adam got so desperate and lost that he didn’t know what to do to get his wife back. He didn’t react well to moments of crisis. Luckly, he had Victoria on his side. After finding out about the spiked whiskey, she collected the condom they found on the hotel’s bed and sent it to a laboratory to compare the material with Adam’s. If the test came back negative it was proved they were being framed.  
There was a whiteboard on Michael’s living room with all the evidence they had so far, a timeline, the events they remembered and the profiles of the possible suspects. One of the suspects was Abel Zane, the guy Adam was supposed to meet. He was now threatening to file a lawsuit against Mother Earth Footwear, because of Adam’s negligence he lost time and money and he wanted to be refunded. The other suspect was Josh, nothing could make Adam forget the words he said the day he came to his office. _I’ll make you pay for that._ Pushing him out of the way was also the easiest way for Josh to get his wife and kids.  
“You need to react, man,” Michael suggested. “You haven’t showed up at the company for three days now.”  
“Thank you, Michael,” Adam said, in a sarcastic mode. “It’s easy to talk, isn’t it?”  
A few months earlier Michael was in the same miserable situation as his friend was.  
“Enough with the Broken Hearts Club. I have something else,” Victoria announced. “Here’s a sample of Kate’s daughter hair, we could also compare it with the condom’s material and if it come back positive, it’s proved Josh is the one who framed us.”  
“You’re a genius!” Adam exclaimed. “You should definitely be a detective.”  
“But I can’t do all the job alone, you know? Get out of this couch and let’s go back to our #SaveLauradam operation.”  
“I’ll be right back,” Adam announced as he ran to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. He had a new idea in mind.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“It was such a noble thing you did,” Victoria said from the passenger sit of Adam’s car, ”not many guys would’ve done the same.”  
It was the first time they talked about Josh being the children’s father after Adam told her.  
“Since the first moment I put my eyes on David I felt the same thing I did for Lucas, there was no difference, you know?” Adam told, “And Serenity? Not a single person in this world could tell that kid isn’t mine.”  
Victoria noticed Adam looked sad, he missed his family a lot.  
 “Hey, heads up. If we manage to get the video footage from the hotel we’ll prove nothing happened and you’ll get your wife back tonight.”  
“You’re right,” Adam smiled as he parked the car.  
In his mind he kept planning what he’d do or say when he finally showed Lauren the proof he was innocent.  
At the hotel’s reception he and Victoria waited until an employee came to assist them. The young male confirmed they used a camera circuit in every floor and also in the elevator.  
“Can we take a look at the footage?” Adam asked, impatient.  
“I’m afraid you can’t, sir. Unless you’re from the police and have a warrant.”  
Adam scratched his hair in dismay.  
“Look... uhhh... _“Billy”_ , isn’t it?”    
The employee confirmed his name.  
“I’m not from the police. But it’s VERY important, my marriage is at stake here.”  
“Sir, not doubt your marriage is important,” Billy said, “but there are rules and...”  
“Screw the rules, Billy,” Adam insisted, “I have money. I can pay.”  
“Sir, are you trying to bribe me?”  
The employee started to dial to call the security.  
“Yes, I am,” Adam angered. “I’m willing to do anything to have my wife back.”  
Victoria, that watched everything in silence, decided to intervene.  
“Adam, stop,” she whispered. “There must be another way.”  
“Do you have a better idea?”  
“Huh... listen, Billy,” she said in a seductive voice, “you’re a very, very handsome young man, if you do us a favor maybe I could consider... err... doing you a little favor in trade...”  
Billy blushed. After a moment of extreme doubt, he finished dialing to the security. If he lost his job he’d never be able to leave his mother’s house.  
“Adam, let’s get out of here,” Victoria suggested grabbing him by the arm.  
“No, I won’t get out of here without the video footage.”  
“Sir?” Billy spoke, “I’m gonna be honest here, you’re going to jail.”  
“Hello, Mr. guard. All I need is a small favor,” Adam tried, “I’m asking... I’m desperatly asking, to take a glimpse at the camera’s footage, that’s all. Done that, I go home and everything’s solved.”  
“Sir, maybe you’d like to follow me to the precinct?”  
“No, thank you,” Adam wouldn’t like having trouble with the police again.  
He and Victoria walked a few steps escorted by the guard.  
“And thank you for nothing, Billy,” Adam yelled from the front door. “When I get my wife back I’ll stay in this hotel and there’ll be no tips for you. You don’t know who I am, I’m the owner of...”  
The guard interrupted him by dragging him outside.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
At Lauren’s house, Serenity cried and claimed to be in a lot of pain. It wasn’t the first time, a couple of days earlier Lauren took her to the doctor, who, after examination, concluded the pain was psychosomatic. Together with the trauma from the incident, she was now suffering with Adam’s absence, what aggravated her condition.  
Lauren was so busy trying to assist her that she had no time to cancel Josh’s visit, she only realized that when she heard the bell ringing.  
“Who’s it?” Serenity asked in the middle of sobs, “Is it dad?”  
“I don’t know,” Lauren smiled, “maybe it’s a special visit for you.”  
 Her daughter was the only motivation she found to open that door and face Joshua’s annoying grin. She knew his visit would make her feel better.  
“Hi, pretty,” he greeted.  
“Hi,” Lauren replied, “before you enter this house I must tell you...”  
She was interrupted by her two curious boys, who were also expecting their father’s comeback.  
“Errr... boys, this is Josh,” she introduced. “The guy who saved Serenity.”  
“Hey!” David smiled, “You’re the man who helped me with my homework that day on the beach.”  
Lauren gave him a look of disapproval for stalking her children.  
“That’s such a coincidence.” Josh nervously said. “So, how did that go?”  
“I got the highest grade. I also finished the year as the first one of my class.”  
“Stop bragging,” Lucas teased, “everyone already knows you’re the smartass.”  
Josh laughed and left the boys roughhousing to follow Lauren to Serenity’s bedroom. After explaining the situation, she stopped him on the way.  
“Wait,” she asked, “I’m letting you visit her but it’ll be on my terms.”  
“Ok,” he agreed.  
“You’ll NOT tell her anything about... you know. She’s going through a really hard time and it’ll only make her worse.”  
“You don’t need to worry, I’d never do anything to hurt her.”  
Lauren gave him a sarcastic look as she opened the door.  
The young girl, who was lying in her bed looking poorly, sat down in a hurry as she saw him on her door.  
“Josh! You’re here!”  
“Hey princess,” he approached her, “your mom said you’re not doing good.”  
“I feel so much better now,” she grinned.  
Lauren went downstairs to give them some privacy, even though it didn’t please her.  
“Remember the surprise I told you?” Josh announced, showing her a small package. “I hope you like it.”  
Serenity grabbed the little box from Josh’s hand and opened it, it was a bracelet. Her eyes glowed in happiness.  
“Oh my God! I love it.”  
Josh helped her to wear it around her wrist. It fit perfectly.  
“To remind you I’ll always be there for you, ok?”  
The girl nodded yes.  
“Why weren’t you online these last few days? I really wanted to talk to you.”  
“I’m sorry, pretty girl. I’ve been busy.”  
Although Josh enjoyed talking to his daughter through the internet he decided to take a break, if Lauren found out he could get in trouble.  
“That’s ok, I’m just glad you’re here.”  
“So why don’t we go downstairs with your mom and brothers, huh?” Josh asked. “Piggyback ride?”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
In the living room, Lauren was about to start biting her nails in anxiety when Josh appeared, bringing Serenity on his back.  
“Mom, look what Josh gave me!” She showed her the bracelet.  
“That’s beautiful, baby,” Lauren agreed.  
“Hey Josh,” David called, “come play a game with me and Luke.”  
For minutes Lauren sat still, only observing her kids bonding with Josh, for her surprise he was very good with them. When it wasn’t his turn to play they’d exchange looks, what caused Lauren some embarrassment.  
“So, Josh,” she tried to invent an excuse to make him go away, “I’d ask if you’d like to stay for dinner but I had no time to prepare anything. I was so busy with Serenity and...”  
“There’s no problem,” Josh said, “I could buy us something. What do you kids would like to eat?”  
“A cheeseburger!” Serenity said. “With french fries.”  
“And ice cream too?” he asked.  
The girl and both of her brothers agreed. Then Josh remembered the issues he had with Kate when trying to grant his kids wishes and he wondered if Lauren was ok with that.  
“Only if you agree, of course,” he told her.  
Lauren agreed, her kids were having a tough time without Adam around, especially Serenity. She didn’t want to ruin their night.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After dinner, Josh was finally alone with Lauren in the kitchen, helping with the dishes. He knew, through his mother, what happened between she and Adam but decided to keep his mouth shut.  
“Thank you for letting me spend time with them tonight,” he said. “It’s more than I deserved.”  
“That’s ok, you saved Serenity’s life after all,” Lauren smiled. “You earned yourself a trust credit.”  
“She’ll be fine, you know. She’s a tough girl, like you.”  
“She definitely is!”  
“Now tell me, where did David got the brains from?”  
“No idea,” Lauren laughed, “none of us I guess.”  
“Let’s be honest, we’re good at making kids,” Josh joked.  
He noticed Lauren stopped breathing and her cheeks turned red. She suddently started to hit him multiple times with the dish towel.  
“D-Don’t you ever say that again!”  
“Sorry.”  
David came to the kitchen looking for Josh.  
“Josh, come with me,” he asked. “I wanna show you something.”  
“Go, I’m finishing,” Lauren ordered.  
“What do you wanna show me?” Josh questioned David while following him.  
“My airplane miniatures collection.”Josh was surprised he shared an interest with his son. After the boy was a little far away he turned around and told Lauren:  
“We’re really good at making kids!”  
She smiled. Maybe she was taking too hard on Josh. Contrary to what Kate told her, he was being lovely and attentive with the children.  
“Mom?” Lucas called, noticing she was distracted.  
“Oh, hey.”  
“I can’t turn my computer on,” he complained, “I think David did one of his nerdy stuff again.”  
“You can use mine, sweetie,” she said, “just don’t delete anything, okay?”  
The boy agreed.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“This one is pretty hard to get,” Josh commented, holding one of David miniatures, “where did you buy it?”  
“I don’t know,” David answered, “my dad bought me a couple of years ago during a trip we made.”  
 Josh noticed the boy looked a little upset.  
“My parents are getting divorced,” he told.  
“I’m sorry, buddy,” Josh consoled him. “Family stuff is complicated.”  
“Are your parents divorced too?”  
“Errr... no, they... uhhh... I don’t have a father.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss,” David assumed Josh’s father was dead.  
“He isn’t... Err...” Josh felt his hands starting to sweat. “No problem. I was too young, I don’t remember him anyways.”  
The anxiety started to take control of his body, his heart was beating fast and he couldn’t breathe. He just wanted it to stop.  
“Josh? I have something for you,” David got one of the miniatures from one of his shelves. “Take this one, for helping me that day and for saving my sister’s life.”  
“A-are you sure?”  
David nodded positively.  
Josh finally started to calm down. The young boy’s smile was enough for him to forget that dark part of his past. That was when he realized, he knew how to make it go away. He needed to call his therapist. He smiled, relieved and happy.  
“What the fuck?!” Lucas yelled from the room next to them. “Mom, come here!”  
“Wow, somebody is pissed,” David joked, making Josh laugh.  
Lauren came through the corridor scolding her eldest son.  
“Lucas Matthew Logan, how many times do I have to tell you to stop saying this word at home?”  
At this point, both David and Serenity were sneaking out to see what was going on.  
“He cheated on you!” Lucas screamed. “This is why he isn’t home, right? You two are getting divorced.”  
“Lucas, I...” Lauren tried to open her mouth but her son showed the picture she received earlier.  
“I saw that video too, mom,” the boy cried in anger, “it was about me he was talking about! I always knew he didn’t like me, he never wanted me!”  
He entered his room, slamming the door and locking it from the inside.  
“Lucas? Open this door right now!” Lauren demanded.  
When she turned around she saw Serenity running to her bedroom sobbing.  
“I didn’t know it was that bad,” David said grabbing the picture Lucas threw on the floor. “I really liked Victoria... and dad. I can’t believe they’ve done this to us.”  
Lauren asked him to wait because she’d like to have a conversation with all the three of them. Noticing what was going on Josh decided it was time for him to go.  
“I’m sorry about that,” he said in the living room, “my mother told me but I had no idea he...”  
“Go ahead,” Lauren said with tears rolling from her eyes, “tell me you always warned me. You must be so happy, aren’t you?”  
“Of course not, I always hoped I was wrong and he’d make you happy, like you deserve.”  
“I keep trying and trying to figure out where I did wrong but I...”  
Josh interrupted her with a hug. Feeling vulnerable, Lauren couldn’t help but hug him back.  
“Everything will be ok, pretty. I promise.”  
He kissed her forehead.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Adam woke up in the morning with the phone call he had been expecting for days, the laboratory informed him the results of the test were ready to be picked up. He wore his best outfit and bought Lauren some flowers. Victoria texted him good luck and asked him to tell her how things had gone later.  
In his car, he opened the envelope with his head spinning so intensely as a _Crazy Ivan_. Even if he was sure he never slept with Victoria, he was afraid to be wrong. In the end, the results were really negative. The material found in that condom wasn’t his. He celebrated and drove home, ready to get his wife back.  
As soon as Lauren put her eyes on him, she closed the door on his face.  
“Lauren? Babe?” Adam called. “We need to talk.”  
“What do you want?” She asked, opening the door again.  
“Here,” Adam took the envelope out of his pocket. “Here’s the proof I’ve never cheated on you.”  
“And here’s the proof of the jerk you are!”  
Lauren threw the package she received at him.  
“What is that?”  
Adam took a better look and observed it was an old picture of him and Victoria.  
“There’s more,” she played the video on her cell phone. “How dared you to joke that way around Kate, Michael and that... you suggested I had slept with so many men I didn’t even know who was Lucas’ father.”  
She started to cry again.  
“So it was really him,” Adam told himself with a sarcastic smile.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Lauren, this picture and the video you’re talking about, they were taken from Kate’s house... so think with me, who’d have a better access than her husband?”  
“Could you please stop blaming Joshua for your own mistakes?” Lauren shouted. “I don’t know where it came from, otherwise I’d sent them a _thank you_ note for showing me the real you.”  
“It was twelve years ago!” Adam argued, “I was young and stupid... can we talk about now? Take a look at this...” he handed her the envelope, “I’ve sent a sample of the material we found in that condom to the lab, they compared with mine and it came back negative.”  
“How am I supposed to know you didn’t collected it from some random trash can only to fool me?”  
Adam ran his hand through his hair in desperation. He wondered if there was anything he still could do to prove his innocence. It was just like when he went to prison, but worse.  
“I-I’m starting to remember things, you know?” He tried, with tears in his eyes. “I remember I was there in the bar... Victoria was with me but waiting for her date, it started to get hot and...”  
“And you two decided to get naked together!” Lauren laughed in an ironic mode.  
“I won’t give up, I...”  
Adam was interrupted by Serenity who came running to his arms. She hugged him tightly and sobbed.  
“Daddy... I miss you so much... Come back home...”  
“I really miss you too, baby girl. I just want you to know that daddy would never do anything to hurt you, I’m going to clean up this mess and we’ll be together again, ok?”  
“Dad,” Serenity told, “I felt really bad yesterday.”  
“Really? And how are you feeling now?”  
“I’m better, my friend Josh came visit me. We had so much fun that I even forgot about the pain.”  
Adam was burning in rage. He barely left the house and Lauren was already getting close to that man again and letting him approach their children.  
“Hey sweetie, why don’t you go to your room?” He asked. “I’ll be there in a second.”  
Serenity understood her parents needed to talk so she walked away from them. Lauren was terrified of what Adam was probably thinking of her right now.  
“This is not what you’re thinking... he...”  
“You couldn’t wait a month, could you?” Adam asked in anger. “All you needed was an excuse to get rid of me and go back to him.”  
“Go back to him? Do you think I...”  
“Yes. And more, I’m really starting to suspect he divorced Kate because of you, it’s not a coincidence that you both ended your marriages only a few weeks apart.”  
“Adam, you know I’d never do anything with him again,” Lauren cried.  
“This is not what it seems...” Adam said, “I guess we’re really over this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Ok, you can hate me a little now :P


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: It was a tough chapter to write, I re-wrote it twice before posting and I still don’t like the result. 
> 
> Warning: One of the scenes may sound a little inappropriate for the T rating. I’m a newbie so I’m not sure what is the line between T and M, sorry. If anyone feels bothered I can change the rating.

“Quest failed,” David lamented to his sister.  
“It’s worse than we thought,” Serenity replied while secretly watching her parents in the living room. Lauren and Adam were sitting far away from each other, without saying a word.  
“Let’s go,” the boy said, “there’s nothing else to be done.”  
Adam was waiting for the kids, he’d take them out for lunch. Somehow they hoped that while they got dressed their parents would talk and solve things between them.  
“We’re ready, dad,” Serenity announced.  
Adam turned around to see only two of his three children waiting for him by the door.  
“Good,” he looked at his watch, “where’s Luke?”  
“He’s not coming, he said.”  
“Why?”  
“I don’t know,” David shrugged, but inside he knew why his brother refused to leave the room.  
Adam walked upstairs and knocked his son’s door.  
“Luke? Let’s go, buddy. It’s getting late.”  
“I’m not going!” Lucas shouted from inside the bedroom.  
“Why not?” Adam asked.  
“I’m already going out with my real father. One of the San Francisco 49ers, remember?”  
Adam left the boy alone and quickly stomped back to the living room.  
“You had to tell him, didn’t you?” He angered at his wife.  
“I didn’t,” Lauren said, “he found the CD.”  
“That you _accidentally_ left in a place where he could find.”  
“He’s not a little boy anymore, it’s getting harder to hide things from him.”  
“You know what is it called?” Adam interrogated. “Parental alienation. I’ll make sure to tell that to my lawyer.”  
“Wait!” Lauren yelled as her husband walked away, followed by the two youngest children. “Are you filing...”  
Adam slammed the door on her face.  
“Damn it!”  
Lauren said to herself while punching the wall.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Victoria!” sitting in front her computer, Kate called for her friend.  
Victoria was too entertained with something on her phone, she laughed and typed without stoping.  
“Another boyfriend?” Kate tried again.  
“Oh, no,” Victoria finally answered, without taking her eyes off her phone screen, “it’s Adam. He keeps sending me this hysterical jokes.”  
“Victoria,” Kate sat in front of her friend, “don’t you think you’re... spending too much time with Adam?”  
“Why? Am I being a dork like him?”  
“I mean, you should be careful. You don’t wanna fall in love for him, do you?  
Victoria finally dropped her phone.  
“Ugh, no! We’re only friends, he’s married to my boss!”  
Kate wondered for a second.  
“Except that she’s no longer your boss, or his wife.”  
“They’re getting back together,” Victoria got up from the couch she was sitting, “I’ll make it happen.”  
“Ok, just forget this now,” Kate asked, “I need to show you something.”  
On her computer she showed her new addiction, a software connected directly to Joshua’s car GPS. It was also accessible from her cell phone. She’d be finally finding out who was the woman responsible for the ending of their marriage.  
“Kate, no...” Victoria protested. “You have Michael in your life again, leave this freak alone.”  
“I need to know. Speaking of Michael I invited him to come with me tonight.”  
“It’s just a small and cheap bar. You don’t want your first date to be there.”  
“It’s not a date, I invited Adam too.”  
“Uh, did you?” Victoria said, “Good.”  
She smiled with some disconfort, thinking about what Kate asked her.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
During the lunch, David and Serenity barely touched their food or said anything to their father. The disappointment and sadness of seeing their parents’ marriage going downhill bothered them.  
“Don’t tell me you two are also hating me.” Adam said, crossing his arms.  
The kids shook their heads in denial.  
“I did nothing wrong,” he told. “I’m being framed, I proved that to your mother and she’s the one who refuses to accept me back.”  
“Then why are you filing for the divorce?” Serenity finally asked.  
Adam took a deep breath, what bothered him the most was the thought of Lauren getting closer to Joshua again but he couldn’t tell his children that.  
“I only said that because I was angry.”  
“Mom was telling the truth,” David told, “Luke found the CD. I saw it.”  
“About that CD...” Adam explained, “I hope you know I was young and stupid, I regret every word I said in that video and if I could take it back I would.”  
Serenity looked around, doing that face Adam recognized as the face she did when she’d say or ask something inappropriate.  
“What?” He questioned.  
“You know, there was a picture too...” she started.  
“Your mother showed me. Of me and Victoria, right?”  
The girl nodded positively.  
“Did you kiss her?”  
“It was a long time ago.”  
“Did you... do _anything else_ with her?”  
“Hey!” Adam censored her. “I’m gonna cut out your Netflix and internet time, you’re learning too much.”  
“Ok, so... Do you love her?” Serenity changed her question.  
“She’s a friend,” Adam answered, “nothing more than that.”  
Adam took the kids to Michael’s apartment, he really missed all that noise and mess they made, every minute with them felt precious. When Serenity got distracted telling Michael a new joke she learned, he asked David to follow him to the bedroom.  
“David, you’re only a few days from being 10. You’re a big boy now.”  
“Uhhh... yes.” The boy replied, being scared of what was coming. His father looked serious.  
“We’re about to have a man to man talk here, ok?”  
David smiled, it made him feel important and grown up. His father handed him a laptop.  
“How good are you with a computer?” Adam asked.  
“I know a lot of stuff.”  
“Do you think you could... errr... hack someone?”  
David didn’t know what to say, was it a trick question?  
“The hotel where I was framed, they have this security camera system. I found out all the footage is stored in a massive hard drive in their main computer. All you have to do is to access it and copy some files for me.”  
“It’s illegal, dad.” David advised.  
“Then teach me how to do this,” Adam begged, “I’d rather to go to jail again than losing your mother.”  
David smiled.  
“I’m doing this.”  
“This is gonna be our secret, deal?”  
“Deal.”  
When they came back to the living room, Serenity wanted to know what David and Adam talked and why her brother had a laptop and she didn’t.  
“He gave you the iPad,” David said, “now the laptop is mine.”  
“It’s not even your birthday yet,” the girl whined.  
“It’s next week!”  
“What did he tell you? We’re a team, if you know anything you need to share with the rest of us!”  
“Shhhh!” David ordered when a conversation between Michael and Adam started in the kitchen.  
“We’re going out tonight,” Michael announced, “you’re getting out of this couch you want it or not.”  
“Where are going?” Adam asked, hoping they wouldn’t meet Michael’s architect friends.  
“Kate invited us to come with her to the new bar Victoria is working.”  
“Michael, you know I...”  
“Please, man,” Michael insisted, “I need your help.”  
“Ok,” Adam agreed, “but only for tonight.”  
During the way back home, Adam noticed the children were quiet and grumpy. He assumed it was because the fight they were having over the laptop. When he stopped the car, David and Serenity quickly left without saying a word.  
“Hey, aren’t you going to say good bye to your dad?” He asked them.  
“Bye, dad,” Serenity ironically said. “Good luck on your date.”  
“Oh, guys... No, it’s not what you’re thinking... Michael, he’s forcing me to come with him.”  
“You could’ve said no,” David spoke. “Maybe you really has feelings for her.”  
“Guys, wait...” Adam useless implored while his children entered the house.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“What?!” Lauren shouted. “Repeat again Serenity, what did you say?”  
“You should do something,” the young girl said with a mischievous look, “just saying.”  
“I’m going to kill them!” Lauren yelled, while walking to her bedroom to get dressed. She was going to Michael’s apartment as fast as she could.  
“You shouldn’t have told her,” David complained, “she’ll hate him even more.”  
“If she’s afraid of losing him maybe she’ll do something.”  
“Are you stupid?” Lucas asked. “You know mom, she’ll do something crazy.”  
“Quickly, hide the car keys,” David suggested.  
His brother grabbed Lauren’s keys and threw them out of the window. It fell right in a big vase they had in front of the house. The plant’s leaves covered the key chain.  
“Perfect!” Lucas celebrated.  
Lauren walked back and forth between the kitchen and the living room.  
“Where are my car keys?”  
She went upstairs and checked the bedroom. When she came back she noticed her children’s faces.  
“Who got my keys?” She inquired. “It’s the last time I ask, tell me or everyone will be grounded.”  
Serenity and Lucas kept exchanging glances. He knew his sister would tell.  
“Don’t be a snitch,” he muttered.  
“It wasn’t us, mom. I swear.” David replied. “Did I ever lie to you?”  
“Huh...” Lauren pondered. David was unable to tell lies, he was the child she trusted the most. Maybe the kids were really telling the truth. “I’ll pretend I believe it, but in any case, your efforts were useless.”  
She opened a drawer and got another key chain.  
“Wait, is that what I’m thinking it is?” Lucas asked.  
“Uh oh...”  
The kids ran to the window just in time to see their mother leaving with their father’s motocycle.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“So, Joshua, you said you had something to tell me,” the male therapist spoke.  
“Yes, I think I figured out...” Josh, sitting in the armchair in front of his doctor, felt a little bit nervous. “I know how to make it stop. And I didn’t even need medication.”  
“Stop what, exactly?”  
“The anxiety I feel because...” He stopped. It was too much for him.  
“Because?”  
“I can’t, sorry.”  
“That’s alright,” the doctor proceeded. “Now, tell me, how did you stop your anxiety?”  
“My son. I was with him when I started to feel bad and... he made it go away.”  
“Bradley?”  
“No, David.”  
The doctor took a look at Josh’s files.  
“Interesting, are you spending time with your children?”  
“Not really,” Josh answered, “I was only visiting them.”  
“Maybe it’s time for you to take another step,” the man suggested.  
“What step?”  
“Being alone with them, being the only one to take care of them. This is what makes you afraid, isn’t it?”  
Josh nodded in agreement.  
“You managed to control it once, but you should try to keep this control, for a larger time. Do you understand what I mean?”  
“I don’t know if I can or... if their mother would let me.”  
“So this week, you talk to her and start to prepare yourself, is that okay for you?”  
“Yes.”  
Josh left the doctor’s office feeling confused and unconfortable. He wouldn’t be able to do that, even with Lauren’s permission. He would fail, like he did with Hazel and Bradley.  
He took a deep breath inside the car and closed his eyes. Then he took it out from the glove compartment, the airplane miniature David gave him. He smiled, wondering if that was a sign his son liked him. If only he had another chance to be with him.  
He turned on his phone and there was a voicemail. He pressed the button to hear it.  
_“Josh? It’s Lauren. Can you call me as soon as you hear this message? Thank you.”_  
He smiled again. That was such a surprise, Lauren called him and there was no anger in her voice, she sounded normal. The most important, she needed him, he couldn’t feel any happier. He dialed her number and she quickly answered.  
“Pretty, hi. Did you call me?”  
_“Hi Josh, I-I... errr... I need a little favor.”_  
“What favor?”  
“Could you pick me up at... _somewhere_ and take me home?  
“Sure, where are you?”  
“I had a little accident, I’m in the hospital.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh rushed to the hospital, but when he saw Lauren sitting in the doctor’s office he calmed himself, knowing it was nothing serious.  
“Oh, hey. What happened?” He questioned her.  
“I... uhh... went out with Adam’s bike,” Lauren explained, embarrassed. “I don’t really know how to drive it so... it happened,” she pointed to her immobilized knee.  
“Ouch, is it broken?”  
“No,” the doctor interrupted them, “she had a minor injury but she’ll need to keep it immobilized for a few days.”  
“Yeah, only that,” Lauren told, smiling. Josh had the impression she was trying to hide something.  
“And there was a little _incident_ , right Ms. Logan?”  
Lauren nodded yes.  
“I gave her two pills of this strong painkiller, one for now and one for tomorrow,” the doctor explained, “but instead she swallowed both of them.”  
“Oh, please,” Lauren rolled her eyes. “This pain was killing me, do you think one little pill would make it go away?”  
Josh called the doctor to the corner of the room.  
“What does it mean?”  
“She’ll likely experiment side effects.”  
“What kind of them?”  
“Most of the patients will only sleep for hours but alterations in her mood and behavior can also occur.”  
“Do you mean she’ll get high?”  
“Although it’s rare, it can happen.”  
Josh helped Lauren to walk to his car and right after he started driving, she fell asleep. He felt relieved she wasn’t having any other side effects, it could scare the kids or cause her any harm.  
When he got to her place, the children saw him carrying her in his arms and were in absolute horror.  
“See? I told you to give her the keys,” Serenity screamed to her brothers.  
Lucas was petrified. Josh thought, for a second, that he’d pass out.  
“Is she okay?” David kept asking repeatedly.  
Josh took his index finger to his mouth, asking them to be quiet.  
“She’s fine,” he told. “She’s only asleep because of the medication.”  
“Better this way,” Lucas finally said.  
“If she’s fine, why does she need a medication?” Serenity interrogated, doubtful.  
“She injured her knee, it hurts like hell.”  
After he placed Lauren safely in her bed, the kids still had tons of questions. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew it had to do with _the playboy_ and Victoria.  
“Josh?” David asked with puppy eyes, Josh recognized that look, he definitely got that from his mother. “Who’s gonna stay with us until she wakes up?”  
“Yeah, and who’s going to cook?” Lucas completed. “I’m starving.”  
Josh’s first thought was that it only could be on purpose. His therapist wanted to test him. Or maybe God. He was being punished for being such a weak.  
“Can you guys give me only a minute?” He pleaded.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Once she spotted her friends, Victoria came from behind the bar to greet them. She had a lot of free time, the bar hadn’t much clients. Kate had the camera ready.  
“Like we used to do,” she joked, “smile!”  
“Oh no, Kate. Stop.”  
The camera clicked, capturing Victoria’s image.  
“Done, we have another picture of your first day at the new job.”  
“You have some odd pictures in this collection, don’t you?”  
“I totally need to see it,” Adam teased.  
“You really do,” Michael encouraged, “I remember some of them.”  
“Shut up,” Victoria asked, “why can’t you all simply order a drink?”  
“Later,” Adam said, “now Kate will tell us about her picture collection.”  
He laughed.  
While Michael and Kate engaged in a parallel conversation, Victoria called Adam to the bar.  
“So, how was it with Lauren today?”  
“A little closer to the end of the road.”  
She handed him a drink.  
“It isn’t spiked,” she joked, “I promise.”  
Adam smiled with some sadness.  
“We had another fight and I told her I’ll file for the divorce.”  
“Well, maybe it’s a good thing,” Victoria consoled. “If she’s afraid of losing you...”  
“Then my kids heard Michael saying we were coming here tonight,” Adam interrupted.  
“Oh. Do you think they told her?”  
“To be honest, I’m surprised she’s not here with a knife yet.”  
He glanced at the table, Michael and Kate were pretty cozy by themselves.  
“I think I’ll stay here,” he told Victoria, who consented.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
In the beginning, Josh thought that night would be a nightmare. First problem, he didn’t know how to cook. Kate was always the one to cook at home. There was only one thing he used to be good at during his college years, homemade hot dogs. The idea drove the kids crazy, they begged him to do that. He agreed.  
Next problem, going to the grocery store and take the kids with him. He imagine every possible tragic scenario, how they’d get lost, how one of them would be kidnapped, how he could get in a car accident and kill them all. In the end, everything went well. They didn’t leave his side for a moment or accepted any weird candies from strangers.  
Back home, the children were so excited they wanted to help him with the hot dogs.  
“B-but... what if any of you guys get hurt, your mother...”  
“Dude, chill out,” Lucas advised. “We’re not babies, we know how to use a knife.”  
“Ok, so let’s separate some tasks here... Lucas, can you grill the sausages?”  
Lucas nodded yes.  
“David, you help me with the sauce, ok? And Serenity, she’ll find us the ingredients and tools we’ll need.”  
“The boring part,” Serenity complained. “It’s not because you saw me suffering once that it means I’m a girl in danger, ok?”  
Josh laughed.  
“I’m stronger than you think.”  
“Maybe someday you’ll convince me of that. Now, I just want you to be safe. Here’s your ingredient list.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“So, that’s my story,” Michael finished telling Kate about his ex-wives.  
“Wow, she really left you over a man named Adam?” Kate asked suprised with the coincidence.  
“First thing I did when I was drunk was accuse him of stealing my wife,” he pointed to Adam at the bar. “It wasn’t him but he had a tough time explaining Lauren that.”  
Kate laughed.  
“What about you?” Michael asked. “How are you doing?”  
“Well, I have good and bad days.”  
“Is it a good day?”  
“Now it is,” Kate smiled looking Michael in the eyes. “But believe me, it started with me installing this application,” she pulled her cell phone out of her purse, “to stalk my ex.”  
Michael took a look at the app.  
“Was he in hospital today?”  
“I had no idea,” Kate said. “Oh my God, I hope nothing happened to him.”  
“Oh no, he was at...” Michael recognized the address. “Somebody’s house later.”  
“Wait, isn’t it...”  
“Hey lovebirds,” Adam came back to the table, “aren’t you guys going to give Victoria a help and ask for a few drinks?”  
Kate couldn’t hide the displeasure in her face. Did Lauren lie to her?  
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked Michael, who couldn’t answer.  
He decided to peek at Kate’s cellphone screen.  
“Man, it doesn’t mean anything...” Michael tried.  
“I can’t believe that,” he shook his head in denial.  
“Neither can I!” Kate exclaimed. “She lied to me, she said nothing was going on between them.”  
“I think we should call it a night,” Michael suggested.  
“Can you take me home?” Kate asked.  
“I’ll stay a little longer,” Adam said, coming back to the bar.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“It was the best hot dog I ever ate,” Lucas said.  
“You should start a business, Josh,” David suggested. “You’d make a lot of money.”  
“Thanks guys, but you all had your part in this, remember?”  
“We could be your business partners,” Serenity suggested. “Deal?”  
“Deal,” Josh replied, “but get ready, we’ll have a lot of work.”  
“You know, someday I even considered following _his_ steps and go to the business school when I grew up,” Lucas ranted. “But not anymore. I don’t wanna be anything like him.”  
“What are you talking about?” Josh wanted to know.  
“My father. I hate him, he cheated on my mom and rejected me when she was pregnant.”  
“This isn’t true,” Serenity defended Adam. “He told me he’s being framed and that he regrets what he said in the video.”  
“And you believe him?” Lucas argued. “He’s with her and the matchmaker right now. That’s why mom was going after them.”  
“Is he with Kate?” Josh questioned. Now he understood what happened to Lauren.  
“Ops, she’s your wife. I’m sorry.”  
“Not anymore, but... what is the pl... Adam doing with her?”  
“They went out for a double date,” David told, “Dad and Victoria, Kate and Uncle Michael.”  
Josh felt a little distress. He didn’t love Kate anymore but the fact she was already back to her ex’s arms bothered him a bit.  
“Hey, let’s stop talking about it,” he suggested. “Why don’t we watch a movie?”  
“Only if it’s horror,” David announced. His siblings went along.  
“Ok, you guys choose.”  
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Adam, you’re not drinking anything else,” Victoria scolded.  
“At least I sleep when I’m drunk and I don’t have to think about them.”  
“Michael told me about... you know what. I’m not letting you do that again.”  
“Don’t worry, it’s different now.”  
They were in silence for a few minutes.  
“I’m bored! You don’t let me drink, you don’t talk to me...”  
“Why don’t you play some pool?” Victoria pointed to the pool table.  
“I don’t do it since college,” Adam laughed. “Would you play with me?”  
“I suck at it, just saying.”  
“Come on, I’m gonna teach you. You gonna learn from the best.”  
They walked to the pool table. Adam played first.  
“Your turn.”  
“I’m telling you, I don’t know how...”  
Adam stood behind her, placing his hands over hers to guide her movements. Victoria felt his body pressed against her back, what made her blush.  
“Is it ok?” He asked.  
Before she could say anything he started to kiss softly the back of her neck. She turned around to face him and ask him to stop but he lifted her up, perching her on the pool’s edge. His lips met hers.  
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” she said.  
She kissed him again, more intensely this time. Her hands ran through his hair.  
“Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” He asked when their mouths separated.  
“I like private,” she whispered in his ear.  
Victoria took his hand and guided him to the storage room. She locked the door with her key. Adam pulled her to another kiss, lifting her up against the wall and pressing his hips to hers. Her hands ran down through his chest, unbuttoning his shirt. He had started to unzip her dress when she requested:  
“Adam, stop.”  
“Why? Would you like to go somewhere else?”  
“No, this is a mistake,” she pushed him away. “You’re married and you should really fix things with your wife.”  
“There’s no way to fix it.”  
“Only if you don’t want to.”  
Victoria stormed out the storage room and came back to the bar, the impression something had changed inside her wouldn’t leave her mind.  
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Josh could finally relax, the kids were already in bed, safe and sound. Serenity was afraid of the movie and asked if he could sleep in her room. He got some pillows and arranged a place on the floor, next to her bed, for him to sleep. He waited until the girl fell asleep then he got up to take a shower. First, he checked on Lauren, who was still sleeping peacefully.  
In the shower he closed his eyes and thought, he was finally feeling happy and accomplished. The kids enjoyed every part of that night and so did he. He didn’t feel anxious or panicked a single time, he’d have a lot to tell his therapist next week. Suddently, he felt a pair of arms hugging him from behind.  
“Holy shit!” He yelled.  
“Hello, pretty.” Lauren said with a seductive voice.  
He turned around to see she was also naked. Josh noticed she wasn’t clearheaded, the medication was still acting.  
“Oh hey... uhhh you woke up. Listen, why don’t you wait for your turn? I’m finishing here...”  
She interrupted him with a passionate kiss.  
_Shit. Shit. Shit._ He thought.  
“Lauren, stop,” he ordered, pushing her away. “I don’t want it.”  
She looked down to his body and grinned ironically.  
“This is not what it seems.”  
“What did you expect, huh?” He tried to distract her and walk away to grab a towel. “You appeared here, undressed and kissed me that way... I...”  
She shoved him against the wall. He was cornered.  
Before he could say another word, she kissed him again, opening her mouth against his. Her tongue stroked Josh’s and he let himself get involved by that moment. He ran his hands through her naked back and gently bite her bottom lip.  
_No._ He told himself. He needed to stop her, she was under the effect of the medication, it was wrong. She’d hate him forever when she regained the conscience. _I gotta stop._  
“Pretty,” he whispered in her ear, “why don’t you wait for me in the bed, huh?”  
“We can do it here first,” she ran her fingernails through his belly, making him shiver.  
“The floor is kinda slippery,” he tried, “you’ve hurt your knee, remember?”  
“Oh,” she lamented, “it’s true.”  
Before leaving, she grabbed his buttocks, making him blush.  
Josh went directly to the door’s locker, but Lauren took the key. She was determined to get what she wanted. He grabbed a towel and wrapped around his hips.  
He hoped she’d be asleep again when he came back to the bedroom, but she wasn’t. She came to his direction and he tried to run to the other side of the room.  
“Stop playing games, Josh. I know you want it as much as I do.”  
“I-I don’t... I really don’t.” He felt he was being tested again.  
“Why not?”  
She was coming closer to him.  
“Lauren, you’re hella high... This is wrong! You’re not conscious.”  
“Oh please, let me show you I’m conscious. Do you want me to sign a paper? I sign it.”  
“Get dressed,” Josh threw a pile of clothes at her.  
“Only after we...” Lauren pressed her lips on his again and then pushed him, making him fall on the bed. She laid on top of him. “You’re trapped, pretty. No escape now.”  
She started to kiss his neck and next, his chest.  
Josh thought there was still a way to prevent that from happening and he was the only one responsible for that. He tried to focus his thoughts on bad things, like how much she’d hate him for that later, how Adam would punch him and how’d never spend time with his children again.  
Lauren unwrapped the towel around his hips and started to kiss the way down to his belly. Josh knew where it’d end. He closed his eyes and waited, there was nothing else he could do, he just couldn’t fight it anymore. She suddently stopped.  
_Huh?_ Josh thought.  
He opened his eyes, Lauren had fallen asleep again. He took a relieved breath before carefully moving away from her.  
After placing her comfortably in a pillow and getting her dressed, he wore some old Adam clothes he found in the closet, they were too big for his skinny body but should do for the night.  
Josh came back to Serenity’s room and laid on the floor. Being thankful he was successful again, he smiled.  
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lauren’s head felt weird. She couldn’t understand what happened in the night before. The last thing she remembered was being in Josh’s car. She took a shower and checked the kids, Lucas and David were sharing the same bed for some reason and Josh was sleeping in Serenity’s room, what made her even more confused.  
Downstairs, she was preparing the breakfast when Josh showed up yawning.  
“Oh hey, you’re already up,” he said surprised and still afraid of her.  
“To be honest, I think I had a lot of sleep, don’t you?” She joked.  
“Yeah... Oh, let me handle the breakfast. You shouldn’t force your knee...”  
“It’s ok, the pain feels better today,” she smiled. Josh noticed something started to bother her.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“I just remembered why all this happened. I got Adam’s motorcycle to go after him because he was going out with Victoria and...”  
A tear rolled across her cheek.  
“I’m so sorry,” Josh apologized.  
“Speaking of remember...” she wiped the tears off her face. “What happened last night?”  
Josh scratched his head. He knew he should told her but that would only make her feel worse.  
“Uhhh I fed the kids, we watched a movie then went to bed. Last time I checked, you were still sleeping like a rock.”  
“So I did nothing stupid?”  
“Not at all, pretty.”  
They smiled at each other. Josh placed his hand on hers.  
“Thank you for taking care of my children,” Lauren said. “Actually, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”  
“I’m listening.”  
“After you came back I contacted a family therapist and she adviced me it should be my children’s decision, not mine so... Without changing anything in their relationship with Adam, if someday you’re ready and I’m ready...”  
“I’ll let you know,” Josh completed her sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: The scene between Adam and Victoria was inspired by Chapter 7 from the game Choices: Stories You Play - The Freshman Book 3.  
> In case you’re curious download the game from the app store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixelberrystudios.choices
> 
> You won’t regret, I promise ;)


End file.
